Retailers up on Zaraowner Inditex39;s strong update
House prices post first annual drop since 2012 Halifax
Croda falls on Goldman Sachs rating downgrade
Harbour jumps on report of merger talks with Talos
FTSE 100 down 0.1, FTSE 250 off 0.2

June 7 Reuters Britain39;s main stock indexes slipped on Wednesday as shares of homebuilders dipped on dismal domestic housing prices data, while speciality chemicals group Croda International dropped to the bottom of the benchmark FTSE 100.

The resourceheavy FTSE 100 edged 0.1 lower as of 0824 GMT, while the domesticallyfocused FTSE 250 midcap index was down 0.2.

British house prices dropped on an annual basis in May for the first time in 11 years, mortgage lender Halifax said, prompting a 1.3 decline in homebuilders39; stocks.

We39;ve seen rising interest rates feeding into mortgages, with expectations that it will continue to rise over the coming six months if the Bank of England really wants to get inflation under control, said Daniela Hathorn, senior market analyst at Capital.com.

So, it39;s not unexpected to see the drop in house prices … I thought we would see a greater drop.

Meanwhile, forecasts from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development revealed that Britain will have the highest inflation of any leading economy in 2023 and Prime Minister Rishi Sunak will miss his promise to halve price growth this year.

Also weighing on sentiment was data showing China39;s exports shrank much faster than…