(Updates after market close)
July 1 (Reuters) - The UK's blue-chip FTSE 100 slipped on
Wednesday, with healthcare and energy shares leading declines,
as investors monitored the latest setback in U.S.-Iran talks.
The internationallyfocused FTSE 100 index closed
down 0.2%, while the mid-cap FTSE 250 jumped 1.4% to a
one-week high.
* Iran said on Tuesday it would not meet top U.S. envoys,
following an outbreak of hostilities that clouded the prospects
of a peace agreement.
* Healthcare shares dropped 1.6%, weighing on
the blue-chip index, with heavyweights AstraZeneca ( AZN ) and
GSK down 1.7% and 2.5% respectively.
* Oil and gas shares also weighed, with Shell and
BP dropping over 2% each on declining oil prices.
* Precious metal mining shares rose 3.3%,
keeping losses in check.
* Aerospace and defence shares extended gains
from the prior session when Prime Minister Keir Starmer pledged
an extra £15 billion ($20 billion) of spending on defence.
Babcock, BAE Systems and Rolls-Royce
rose between 1.1% and 5.2%.
* PMI data showed that Britain's manufacturing activity
cooled in June despite a boost from stockpiling ahead of price
hikes and supply chain disruption worries.
* Among individual movers, AB Foods dropped 3.1%
after the Primark owner said it expects annual profit to be
below last year's.
* Greggs ( GGGSF ) fell 3% and was the top laggard on the
mid-cap index after the UK's biggest fast-food chain said its
long-time CFO Richard Hutton would step down.
* National Grid said it would invest $1.75 billion
for a 35% stake in Joulent, a U.S. energy platform developing
power infrastructure for data centres. Shares were down 3%.
* Both the FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 notched quarterly gains.
The mid-cap index posted its biggest quarterly rise in five
quarters, while the blue-chip index ended higher in 11 of the
last 12 months.