FTSE down 1.82% (Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - London, 16 Apr - UK shares ended sharply lower amid rising global tensions over escalating conflict in the Middle East and gathering clouds over interest rate cuts.

The statistics office said the UK unemployment rate for December 2023 to February 2024 came in above estimates at 4.2%, a sign consumer spending may be reined in moving forward. But the news was overshadowed by data showing wage growth remained strong with headline growth of 5.6%. That raised concern the Bank of England may now have less legroom to cut rates given the potential inflationary pressure.

Sentiment was also not helped by the latest forecasts from the IMF which cut its growth forecasts for the UK economy from 0.6% this year, to 0.5%.

Concerns Israel is set to mount a military response to Iran's drone attack over the weekend also darkened the mood as bond yields rose to multi-month highs.

On the stocks front shares in DS Smith fell 3.7% after it agreed to a 5.8 billion pound takeover offer from US packaging giant International Paper.

Oil majors Shell and BP both ended down around 2% on the fears of escalating conflict in the Middle East while Wise shares fell 8.3% after the company reported full-year revenue below analysts' expectations.

The FTSE 100 closed down 1.82% at 7,820.

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(RADIOCOR) 16-04-24 18:15:16 (0676) 5 NNNN