UK's FTSE 100 dips as financial, healthcare shares drag

(Reuters) - UK's FTSE 100 came under pressure on Tuesday as losses in heavyweight financials and healthcare weighed, with focus remaining on economic data from around the globe to gauge monetary policy trends.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 slipped 0.2% as of 1003 GMT, while the more domestically focussed FTSE 250 midcap index dropped 0.6%.

Financial stocks were the top drags on the blue-chip index, with heavyweight HSBC down 1.5%, while NatWest Group fell 2.1%.

Healthcare shed 0.6%, with index heavyweight AstraZeneca falling nearly 1%.

Homebuilders lost 1.2% with Taylor Wimpey down 2.6% after Barclays downgraded its rating to "equal-weight" from "overweight".

Also exerting pressure on the exporter-heavy FTSE 100 was a firmer pound, which stood at its highest level in a week against the dollar. [GBP/]

On the bright side, the retail sector added 1.2% as clothing retailer Next advanced 3.2% after it raised its annual profit outlook for the fourth time in six months following a strong Christmas season.

UK stocks were choppy in the last session, swinging higher after a report stated that U.S. President-elect Donald Trump's aides are exploring tariff plans that would be applied to every country but would only cover critical imports.

However, Trump denied the report, saying it incorrectly said his tariffs would be pared back.

This week the focus will be on the December U.S. nonfarm payrolls report due on Friday, a crucial metric for gauging the Federal Reserve's interest rate path for 2025.

Meanwhile, activity in Britain's construction industry grew at the slowest pace in six months in December, while British house prices dropped unexpectedly last month for the first time since March.

Among individual stocks, AJ Bell shed 6.1% after Citigroup downgraded the investment platform to "sell" from "neutral".

(Reporting by Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore)