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FTSE 100 down 0.4%, FTSE 250 slips 0.3%

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Drax Group ( DRXGF ) slumps after financial watchdog probe

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PPHE Hotel drops after HY earnings

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IT firm Softcat gains on annual forecast lift

(Updates after markets close)

Aug 28 (Reuters) - London equities ended lower for a

third consecutive session on Thursday, with utilities and

technology shares dragging on the main indexes, as investors

assessed chip giant Nvidia's ( NVDA ) results.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 finished 0.4% lower, while

the domestically focussed midcap index shed 0.3%.

The FTSE 100 had touched a record high last week when global

markets got a lift after U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome

Powell signalled a possible interest rate cut at the central

bank's September meeting.

Drax Group ( DRXGF ) fell 7.5% after Britain's financial

watchdog investigated the energy company's biomass sourcing

disclosures.

Other utility stocks were also under pressure,

with Centrica ( CPYYF ) and SSE both down 1.5%.

The technology index shed 1.4%, tracking global

moves, after results from AI bellwether Nvidia ( NVDA ) fell

short of some analysts' expectations.

Precious metal mining stocks dipped, with

Hochschild and Endeavour Mining ( EDVMF ) both falling

around 2%.

Losses were held in check by industrial mining stocks, with

miners Anglo American and Rio Tinto gaining 2.9%

and 1.5%, respectively.

Among other individual stocks, PPHE Hotel was the

top decliner on the FTSE 250, slumping 16.2% after the

hospitality group posted lower half-yearly earnings.

GSK slipped 1.2% despite Britain's medical regulator

approving the drugmaker's new antibiotic pill Blujepa for

treating urinary tract infections in women.

IT firm Softcat was the top gainer on the midcap

index, adding 3.8% after lifting its annual profit growth

forecast for the third time in six months.

The Confederation of British Industry said that services

businesses reported a fall in confidence and activity this

month, with the employers' group urging finance minister Rachel

Reeves not to increase the corporate tax burden.