The FTSE 100 futures in the United Kingdom stock market closed down on Thursday trading after the European Central Bank sent latest signal about its target to tighten its ultra-loose monetary policy.
The UK benchmark, known as the footsie, gave up 29 points, or 0.39%, to settle at 7 339, erasing the 0.1% gain earned in the previous session.
The ECB has released the minutes of its June 8-meeting, which showed that its policy-making bodies were close to reaching a tighter monetary policy. The central bank is planning to boost its bon-buying program, which have supported equity and bond markets.
Accordingly, the central bank believes that the move will help lift the confidence of investors regarding the economy in the continent without the need of shocking financial markets.
With this hawkish note from the ECB, bank shares were able to stage a rally but the surge was not enough to lift the London blue-chip index out of the negative territory.
Royal Bank of Scotland, Barclays, and Lloyds all finished strong on a choppy session along with top-mover Associated British Foods. Retailer heavyweight such as Next and Burberry also helped the footsie to pare some losses.
Another factor that contributed to the loss of the FTSE 100 futures was the surge in pound as the currency appreciated against its major counterparts.
Sterling punched in 0.01% gain versus the US dollar to close at 1.2935 per greenback while against the euro, it chalked up 0.05% climb at 1.1398.