FTSE 100 down; U.K. shares mixed at market open

Investing.com - U.K. equities started mixed on Thursday, with rises in General Industrials, Mobile Telecommunications, Oil & Gas and Electronic & Electrical Equipment sectors. On the other hand, sectors such as Personal Goods, Food Producers, Industrial Transportation and Tobacco declined.

At the market open in London, the FTSE 100 Index declined 0.13%. The FTSE 250 Index and the FTSE 350 Index also fell. The FTSE 250 dropped 0.02%, while the FTSE 350 fell by 0.05%.

Top Gainers:

• DS Smith PLC (LON:SMDS): Climbed 6.24% or 23.00 points to 391.40
• Admiral Group (LON:ADML): Rose 4.66% or 121.0 points to 2,718.0
• Mondi (LON:MNDI): Increased 4.16% or 61.50 points to 1,539.50

Top Losers:

• GSK (LON:GSK) plc: Declined 6.25% or 100.00 points to 1,499.50
• Burberry Group (LON:BRBY): Dropped 3.33% or 32.0 points to 929.8
• Associated British Foods (LON:ABF): Fell 2.41% or 60.9 points to 2,463.1

In Commodities Trading:

• Gold Futures for August delivery declined 1.35 points to 2,311.85 a troy ounce.
• Crude Oil for August delivery added 0.18 points to 80.72 a barrel.
• September Brent Oil Contract dropped 0.08% or 0.07 to 84.40 a barrel.

Currency Markets:

• GBP/USD remained unchanged at 1.26.
• EUR/GBP is also stable at 0.84.
• The US Dollar Index Futures was down 0.12% at 105.585

Main Economic Events:

Today's main economic events in the UK are the Financial Stability Report from the Bank of England and Governor Andrew Bailey's speech, which are expected to provide insights into the country's economic outlook and potential policy changes.

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