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* B&M European slips on downbeat earnings outlook
* Services PMI hits 24-year high
* National Grid, Kingfisher trade ex-dividend
* BT Group falls on Deutsche Bank downgrade to "sell"
* FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 down 0.6%
(Updates with market close)
By Devik Jain and Shivani Kumaresan
June 3 (Reuters) - London's FTSE 100 snapped a three-day
winning streak to inch lower on Thursday, as miners and B&M
European Value Retail's downbeat earnings outlook weighed, while
services sector activity hit a 24-year high last month.
The blue-chip index fell 0.6%, with miners,
including Anglo American, BHP Group and Rio
Tinto falling between 1.9% and 2.8%.
Discount retailer B&M European fell 3.9% after it
said trading would likely remain volatile this year and organic
growth would likely decline.
National Grid fell 4.1% to the bottom of the index,
while home improvement retailer Kingfisher lost 2.0%, as
they traded without entitlement to a dividend payout.
The domestically focused mid-cap FTSE 250 index
declined 0.6%, easing from a record peak scaled in the previous
session.
"Over the past month or so we have seen stock markets
globally stabilizing a bit after big gains in the previous
months. We don’t see this continuing," said Franziska Palmas,
markets economist at Capital Economics.
"The FTSE will make further gains between now and the end of
the year, benefitting from further rotation towards the sectors
that were hit hard during the first part of the pandemic."
After breaking above the 7,000-mark in mid-April, the FTSE
100 index has moved in a narrow range on worries that rapid
economic growth could lead to higher inflation and faster
tightening of ultra-loose monetary policies.
Britain's services sector recorded the biggest jump in
activity in 24 years last month, after pubs and restaurants were
allowed to resume serving customers indoors following months of
lockdown, according to a closely watched business survey.
Among other stocks, Workspace Group dropped 3.2%
after the office-space provider slipped into its first annual
loss in 12 years.
BT Group fell 1.9% after Deutsche Bank downgraded the
telecom group's stock to "sell," saying it is overvalued.
Chemicals maker Johnson Matthey rose 2.3% after it
entered into a joint agreement with Nano One Materials
to develop lithium-ion battery materials.
(Reporting by Devik Jain and Shivani Kumaresan in Bengaluru;
Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Uttaresh.V and Kirsten Donovan)
