LONDON, April 9 — London’s FTSE 100 fell today, dragged lower by heavyweight British American Tobacco and banking stocks, although the blue-chip index was set for its best weekly performance since early-January on optimism about a recovery in the UK economy.

The FTSE 100 slid 0.3 per cent, with shares of the tobacco firm declining 2.5 per cent to the bottom of index after J.P. Morgan downgraded the stock to “neutral” from “overweight”.

However, the losses were limited by a rise in consumer discretionary stocks, with Britain’s biggest sportswear retailer JD Sports Fashion adding 1.3 per cent after Berenberg raised its price target on the stock.

The FTSE 100 index is up 2.7 per cent this week, its biggest since the week ended January 8. For the year so far, it has added more than 7 per cent following increased vaccine rollouts and government support to lift the economy from a pandemic-driven recession.

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“There is, to some extent, a bit of a breather today because the FTSE 100 certainly has climbed to a level it’s not seen since the pandemic hit the UK,” said Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.

“Given that the FTSE 100 has been a laggard amongst its global rivals since the Brexit vote and compounded by the pandemic, certainly it seems as though a quite strong rebound is on the cards.”

An analysis by Public Health England showed England’s fast rollout of Covid-19 vaccines prevented over 10,000 deaths of people aged 60 and older by the end of March.

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Funeral services provider Dignity Plc fell 1.9 per cent after Peel Hunt downgraded the stock to “sell” in light of positive momentum of vaccinations and reduction in number of Covid-19 cases.

The domestically focussed mid-cap FTSE 250 index edged 0.1 per cent higher, hitting a record high and on track for a third straight weekly gain.

Global recruitment firm PageGroup jumped 10.8 per cent to the top of the mid-cap index on higher 2021 profit outlook. — Reuters