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* UK economy to shrink by over 11% in 2020
* Unilever tops FTSE 100 ahead of UK-Dutch entities merger
* Publisher Future bottoms out midcap index
(Updates to close)
By Devik Jain and Ambar Warrick
Nov 25 (Reuters) - British stocks came off vaccine-fuelled
highs on Wednesday after Finance Minister Rishi Sunak flagged a
major hit to economic growth from the coronavirus, prompting an
index of domestically-exposed stocks to mark its worst tumble in
nearly a month.
The midcap index closed 1.1% lower, with industrials
and consumer discretionary stocks weighing the most. The
blue-chip index shed 0.6%, dragged by major banks and
healthcare stocks.
Uncertainty over the UK's exit from Europe also hurt
sentiment, after the European Union's head said the bloc could
not guarantee a trade deal, and was prepared for a no-deal
Brexit.
British stocks had touched a multi-month highs on the back
of several positive updates in the development of a coronavirus
vaccine.
But even amid progress towards a cure, the pandemic's
economic ructions are just beginning to be felt. Britain's
budget deficit is expected to climb to its highest level outside
wartime, and its economy will shrink by 11.3% in 2020, Sunak
said while unveiling a one-year spending plan.
"The Chancellor had a very fine line to tread today. Further
fiscal support is clearly required to sustain the economy. ...
But he also had to acknowledge the fact that borrowing this year
is already near 400 billion pounds," Karen Ward, chief market
strategist EMEA at J.P. Morgan Asset Management, wrote in a
note.
"The need for further spending is reinforced by the
eye-watering new growth and employment forecasts from the Office
for Budget Responsibility."
Among individual movers, Unilever topped the FTSE
100 with a 5% jump, ahead of the Nov. 29 deadline for the
cross-border merger of its British and Dutch corporate entities.
Roadside recovery company AA Plc jumped 7.1% after
it agreed a sale to private equity groups that values the
company at 219 million pounds.
Publisher Future bottomed out the midcap index
after it agreed to buy the owner of price comparison website Go
Compare for 594 million pounds ($793 million).
($1 = 0.7475 pounds)
(Reporting by Devik Jain in Bengaluru; editing by Uttaresh.V
and Jonathan Oatis)
