Elsewhere, budget airline Ryanair was flat on the day but is up 3 per cent over the past week to recover some of the losses it has accumulated in recent weeks.
Meanwhile, box-maker Smurfit Kappa gave up 1 per cent following promising climbs in recent days despite last week reporting a 9 per cent fall in sales in the first half of the year.The FTSE dipped 0.13 per cent as commodity and housing firms were among the fallers. Weak sessions for the UK’s oil majors were a particular drag during a largely timid trading session.
Industry rival Melrose also made gains on the back of positivity surrounding the sector, closing 13.8p higher at 543.2p. The broader pan-European Stoxx 600 edged down 0.2 per cent ahead of inflation readings from Germany, China and the US later this week.Wall Street climbed higher following a choppy week, with investors looking ahead to the highly awaited US inflation report that could test the market’s sharp recovery this year.