The FTSE 100 ended the day down 0.2 per cent at 7,661, while the FTSE 250 fell 0.7 per cent to 22,048.71, although both indexes finished the week higher.
Global stock markets are still wobbly amid fears the Federal Reserve will lift interest rates several times this year after US inflation hit a 40-year high yesterday.
Meanwhile, Britain’s economy saw a smaller-than-expected hit from the Omicron variant, official data showed today.
GDP shrank by 0.2 per cent in December, beating analyst expectations of a 0.6 per cent decline.
December GDP was 6 per cent higher than a year earlier, the Office for National Statistics said, just missing analyst expectations of a 6.3 per cent rise.
In company news, British American Tobacco saw a 7 per cent rise in fourth-quarter adjusted revenue to $25.7billion as more people shifted over to e-cigarettes and oral nicotine amid health concerns during the pandemic.
The world’s second-largest tobacco company also announced a dividend increase of 1 per cent to 217.8p and a £2billion share repurchase programme for 2022.
More than 2,000 steel jobs are hanging in the balance as the taxman chases scandal-hit metals magnate Sanjeev Gupta.
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Vaping and e-cigarettes have become a growing part of BAT revenues
