April 13 Reuters Londons FTSE 100 fell on Tuesday, dragged lower by losses in exportoriented stocks and energy firms, while data showed Britains economy grew in February as companies got ready for the lifting of a third coronavirus lockdown.

The bluechip index edged down 0.1, with shares of large dollarearning consumer staples companies Unilever , Diageo Plc, and British American Tobacco falling between 0.3 and 0.6 on a slightly stronger pound.

Miners Rio Tinto, CRH Plc and Antofagasta Plc rose between 0.8 and 2.1.

The domestically focussed midcap FTSE 250 index traded flat, with engineer Babcock International Group surging 14.8 to the top of index as it unveiled a restructuring plan after flagging a 1.7 billion pounds 2.34 billion charge on profitability review of its contracts.

Official data showed Britains economy grew by 0.4 in February from January, while the fall in gross domestic product in January was not as severe as previously estimated, down by 2.2 compared with the initial reading of a 2.9 drop.

Reporting by Devik Jain in Bengaluru; editing by Uttaresh.V

Source Reuters