FTSE 250 fall outpaces FTSE 100 dip

If the FTSE 250 really does reflect the UK economy better than the FTSE 100, as some suggest, the news is bad.

The mid-cap index was down 125 points by Thursday lunchtime - down by more than 1%. The blue-chip FTSE 100 is down by just 0.1% at the same time, falling 8 points.

The FTSE 250 has been driven lower by some undeniably British retailers - Halfords and Carpetright both put out profits warnings this morning, for example.

It is lower too on events elsewhere of course - Germany's betting tax proposals are hammering companies with any involvement there.

Bwin.party, the merged bwin and PartyGaming, is down another 13% today, to 145p, while Betfair is down 4.4% to 948p.

Equally, the FTSE 100 is being held up by four UK banks and speculation about what a UK regulator will do to them. The drag on the blue-chip index, meanwhile, is coming from the mining companies and oil and gas, many of whose interests are very much not in the UK.

Of the FTSE 100, 61 stocks are down and 37 up, with 5 unchanged. Of the FTSE 250, 201 stocks are down, 44 up and 9 unchanged.