News of a massive fine across the UK banking sector was also dragging high street lenders lower.

The Footsie was down 0.4 per cent at 6,599 in early deals. The index closed at 6,627.4 on Tuesday, its highest close since 29 September.

Along with results and updates from a number of blue chips such as Capita, SSE, G4S, Tullow Oil and J Sainsbury, investors were treading cautiously ahead of the Inflation Report, comprising the BoE’s detailed analysis of the economy and its inflation projections.

The report is expected to shed some light on the Monetary Policy Committee’s recent decision to hold off from hiking rates, and could see policymakers lower their outlook for both economic growth and inflation.

“A soft tone in today’s Inflation Report – which is not unlikely – could […] push the market expectations for the first rate hike further back on the calendar,” according to analysts at Rabobank.

Capita, SSE and Sainsbury provide a drag

Outsourcing group Capita dropped despite saying it remains on track to achieve at least 8 per cent organic growth for 2014. However, the company did reveal that its finance director Gordon Hurst would be stepping down next year.

SSE was also lower after reporting a 6.2 per cent drop in pre-tax profit to £316.6m in its first half, though the utility group did lift its interim dividend by 2.3 per cent.

After an initial rise, shares in J Sainsbury sank firmly into the red after the supermarket group warned that its full-year profit and dividend would be lower than last year’s. Like-for-like sales fell 2.1 per cent in the first half, while underlying profit sank 6.3 per cent.

Security firm G4S was higher after trading in the third quarter met expectations with organic revenue growth up 4.2 per cent compared to a year ago.

Tullow Oil was also in demand after saying it is reviewing its costs in light of low international oil prices. It also reassured that its financial performance in the year to date was in line with expectations.

The banking sector was lower after the Financial Conduct Authority issued its largest ever fine, slapping a £1.1bn penalty on five banks for rigging forex markets, though Barclays has yet to settle as the regulator continues its investigation. Barclays was falling early on, along with HSBC and RBS.

Market Movers
techMARK 2,828.17 -0.10%
FTSE 100 6,598.96 -0.43%
FTSE 250 15,559.07 -0.46%

FTSE 100 – Risers
G4S (GFS) 271.80p +2.76%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 4,150.00p +0.73%
Vodafone Group (VOD) 220.50p +0.66%
SABMiller (SAB) 3,505.50p +0.52%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 483.60p +0.29%
Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,063.00p +0.19%
Whitbread (WTB) 4,425.00p +0.16%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 4,663.50p +0.13%
British Sky Broadcasting Group (BSY) 869.00p +0.12%
BG Group (BG.) 1,036.50p +0.10%

FTSE 100 – Fallers
Capita (CPI) 1,057.00p -5.71%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 259.80p -3.46%
Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 431.20p -3.32%
Tesco (TSCO) 189.15p -2.98%
Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 170.00p -2.30%
Barclays (BARC) 229.65p -2.11%
SSE (SSE) 1,551.00p -1.84%
Sports Direct International (SPD) 616.00p -1.75%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,003.00p -1.67%
St James’s Place (STJ) 736.50p -1.54%

Source: ShareCast