British shares track worst day in 3 weeks on inflation concerns; NatWest slips

London’s FTSE 100 fell on Tuesday, in line with Asian markets, after an overnight tech sell-off on Wall Street over inflation concerns, while NatWest Group slipped as the British government cut its stake in the domestic lender.

The blue-chip index slid 1.8%, with NatWest tumbling 3.3% after the UK government completed the sale of 1.1 billion pounds ($1.55 billion) in its shares at a discounted price.

All the FTSE 100 constituents were trading in negative territory.

Banks, travel and leisure, and miners were among the biggest losers, all down more than 2% each.

Globally, tech stocks took a brunt of the selling as investors braced for U.S. inflation data due on Wednesday while keeping a close eye on a host of Federal Reserve speakers this week to assess how authorities are likely to respond to receding risks posed by the pandemic in some major economies. [MKTS/GLOB]

The domestically focused mid-cap FTSE 250 index tripped 1.6%. Both the indexes were tracking their worst daily performance in three weeks.