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* FTSE 100 down 0.6%, FTSE 250 off 0.3%
March 23 (Reuters) - British shares fell on Tuesday, dragged
down by energy and bank stocks, as new lockdowns and slow
vaccine rollouts across Europe stoked fears over the pace of
economic recovery, while Cineworld rose after plans to reopen
its theatres.
The commodity-heavy FTSE 100 index .FTSE was down 0.6%,
with oil heavyweights BP BP.L and Royal Dutch Shell RDSa.L
being the biggest drags on the index. O/R
Bank stocks, including HSBC Holdings HSBA.L , Barclays Plc
BARC.L , and Lloyds Banking Group LLOY.L , were also among the
biggest laggards, falling between 0.7% and 1.1%.
Britain's jobless rate unexpectedly fell to 5.0% in the
three months to January, when the country entered a new COVID-19
lockdown, official figures showed, missing forecasts of a rise
to 5.2% in a Reuters poll. The domestically focused mid-cap FTSE 250 index .FTMC fell
0.3%, hit by losses in industrials stocks.
AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) Plc AZN.L fell 1.0%, after a U.S. health
agency said the drugmaker may have provided an incomplete view
of efficacy data on its COVID-19 vaccine from a large scale
trial in the United States. Bucking the broader subdued sentiment, Cineworld CINE.L
rose 4.4% after it said it will re-open U.S. theatres in April
and its UK halls a month after, in time to screen big-budget
movies including "Godzilla vs. Kong", after prolonged shutdowns
due to the COVID-19 crisis.