Feb 12 (Reuters) - The UK's FTSE 100 touched a fresh peak on Thursday, with money manager Schroders surging more than 30% after a takeover by U.S. firm Nuveen, while data showed Britain's economy
FTSE 100 Declines Amid Global Risk Aversion; Schroders Shares Surge
Market Overview and Key Developments
Feb 12 (Reuters) - The UK's FTSE 100 closed lower on Thursday, as a risk-off mood in global markets offset a nearly 30% surge in shares of money manager Schroders after it agreed to a takeover by U.S. firm Nuveen.
FTSE 100 Performance
The blue-chip FTSE 100 closed down 0.7%, slipping off the record high it hit earlier in the day. The FTSE 250 mid-cap index was down 0.4%.
Schroders Buyout Details
Wall Street was a hit by a renewed selloff on AI concerns, with the main indexes falling more than 1%.
Economic Indicators and Investor Sentiment
Schroders' shares jumped as much as 28.5% to their highest in more than four years after U.S. asset manager Nuveen agreed to buy the company for 9.9 billion pounds ($13.5 billion) in one of Europe's largest fund management deals.
Broader macro signals were also in focus as Britain's GDP showed the economy grew just 0.1% in the fourth quarter, matching the previous quarter's pace and partly reflecting uncertainty in the run-up to finance minister Rachel Reeves' November budget.
Thursday's figures, which showed a sharp downward revision to monthly GDP and a nearly 3% drop in business investment driven by volatile transport outlays, underscored why investors see the Bank of England as more likely than not to cut rates again in March.
Among other movers, British American Tobacco dropped 0.4% after announcing job cuts and full-year results.
Shares of pest‑control firm Rentokil Initial fell 6.8% as U.S. peer Rollins missed Wall Street estimates for fourth‑quarter revenue and earnings.
(Reporting by Tharuniyaa Lakshmi in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel and Cynthia Osterman)
