UK's FTSE 100 slips as Rolls Royce, economic data weigh

Britain's FTSE 100 slipped on Tuesday, as a slump in Rolls Royce shares weighed on the aerospace and defence sector, although miner Glencore limited the losses in the benchmark index following its stake deal for Canada's Teck Resources. The blue-chip FTSE 100 was down 0.1 per cent at 0909 GMT, while the mid-cap index rose 0.4 per cent.

Top decliner aerospace and defence sector fell 0.7 per cent, with a nearly 2 per cent slump in Rolls Royce shares after the Emirates President Tim Clark challenged the engine maker to improve durability and lower maintenance costs.

Emirates ruled out an immediate deal to buy Airbus A350 jets barring a breakthrough in engine talks with Rolls Royce.

Shares of Glencore rose 3.2 per cent after the company agreed to buy a 77 per cent stake in miner Teck Resources' steelmaking coal business for $6.93 billion in cash.

The media sector gained nearly 1 per cent, with a 6 per cent jump in Informa shares after the events organiser increased its full-year revenue and profit expectations.

Entain Plc dropped 2.3 per cent to the bottom of the FTSE 100 after brokerage Jefferies downgraded the gambling firm's rating to "hold" from "buy".

The overall travel and leisure index slipped 0.5 per cent.

Meanwhile, data showed British wages grew slightly less fast in the third quarter, but remained close to their record pace, doing little to ease the Bank of England's concerns about inflationary pressures.

"The question is whether the government can find more tools to assist the BOE in battling inflation, which keeps unemployment at an acceptable level," said Nick Saunders, chief executive officer, Webull UK.