UK stocks close lower as tech, utility shares drag

(Reuters) -London equities ended lower for a third consecutive session on Thursday, with utilities and technology shares dragging on the main indexes, as investors assessed chip giant Nvidia's results.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 finished 0.4% lower, while the domestically focussed midcap index shed 0.3%.

The FTSE 100 had touched a record high last week when global markets got a lift after U.S. Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signalled a possible interest rate cut at the central bank's September meeting.

Drax Group fell 7.5% after Britain's financial watchdog investigated the energy company's biomass sourcing disclosures.

Other utility stocks were also under pressure, with Centrica and SSE both down 1.5%.

The technology index shed 1.4%, tracking global moves, after results from AI bellwether Nvidia fell short of some analysts' expectations.

Precious metal mining stocks dipped, with Hochschild and Endeavour Mining both falling around 2%.

Losses were held in check by industrial mining stocks, with miners Anglo American and Rio Tinto gaining 2.9% and 1.5%, respectively.

Among other individual stocks, PPHE Hotel was the top decliner on the FTSE 250, slumping 16.2% after the hospitality group posted lower half-yearly earnings.

GSK slipped 1.2% despite Britain's medical regulator approving the drugmaker's new antibiotic pill Blujepa for treating urinary tract infections in women.

IT firm Softcat was the top gainer on the midcap index, adding 3.8% after lifting its annual profit growth forecast for the third time in six months.

The Confederation of British Industry said that services businesses reported a fall in confidence and activity this month, with the employers' group urging finance minister Rachel Reeves not to increase the corporate tax burden.

(Reporting by Twesha Dikshit. Editing by Sahal Muhammed and Mark Potter)