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* Britain's Q2 GDP falls most on record
* Royal Dutch Shell to cut more than 10% of workforce
* Compass Group falls on $128 mln charge
* Growth stocks to outperform in Q4 - analyst
* FTSE down 1.6% in Sept; gives up ~half of Q2 gains in qtr
* FTSE 100 down 0.5%, FTSE 250 up 0.8%
(Updates to close)
By Shashank Nayar and Susan Mathew
Sept 30 (Reuters) - A bleak production forecast from Shell
and losses in consumer stocks weighed on London's FTSE 100 on
Wednesday, but an upbeat outlook from gambling firm 888 Holdings
pushed it to the top of the UK mid-caps index.
The FTSE 100 fell 0.5% as the oil and gas sector
declined 1.8%.
Royal Dutch Shell hit its lowest in more than
six-months after warning third quarter production was set to
drop sharply due to the coronavirus pandemic and hurricanes
forcing offshore platforms to shut down.
Compass Group lost 3.2% as the catering giant
forecast a 19% fall in organic sales and a 100 million pound
($128 million) hit on its biggest businesses.
Sentiment took a hit after an indecisive U.S. presidential
debate overnight and a near 20% slide in Britain's GDP, but
investors took heart from upbeat economic data from China and
the United States.
Brexit uncertainty coupled with fears of further economic
stress as COVID-19 cases rise again washed out the FTSE 100's
August gains. On the quarter it lost almost 5%.
"The fourth quarter is going to really be interesting: we'll
hopefully get some news that takes away some of the unknowns
such as a new U.S. President and indications on when we can get
a coronavirus vaccine," said Jonathan Bell, chief investment
officer at Stanhope Capital.
"Valuations are quite high, but I'm optimistic that quality
growth stocks will continue to outperform. That's the right
place to be in the fourth quarter."
The mid caps index rose 0.8% as 888 Holdings
jumped 21% after forecasting a better annual profit and
declaring a special dividend.
G4S was the top boost, hitting a seven month high
after the security group rejected a cash offer by smaller
Canadian rival GardaWorld that valued the British company at
2.97 billion pounds ($3.81 billion), weeks after it turned down
a similar proposal.
(Reporting by Shashank Nayar in Bengaluru; Editing by
Subhranshu Sahu and Kirsten Donovan)
