UK stocks close lower as tech, utility shares drag

Aug 28 (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 .FTSE finished 0.4% lower, while the domestically focussed midcap index .FTMC 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 DRX.L fell 7.5% after Britain's financial watchdog investigated the energy company's biomass sourcing disclosures.

Other utility stocks .FTUB6510 were also under pressure, with Centrica CNA.L and SSE SSE.L both down 1.5%.

The technology index .FTUB1010 shed 1.4%, tracking global moves, after results from AI bellwether Nvidia NVDA.O fell short of some analysts' expectations.

Precious metal mining stocks .FTNMX551030 dipped, with Hochschild HOCM.L and Endeavour Mining EDV.L both falling around 2%.

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

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

GSK GSK.L 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 SCTS.L 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.

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