UK Market Lower; ITV, Standard Chartered Climb

(RTTNews) - The UK market was moderately lower on Wednesday afternoon, as investors exercised caution ahead of the European Central Bank's monetary policy meeting scheduled for tomorrow, and the key monthly jobs data from the U.S. slated for release on Friday.

On the economic front, the U.K. service sector expansion slowed unexpectedly in February. The Markit/Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply Purchasing Managers' Index decreased to 56.7 in February from 57.2 in January, when it was forecast to rise to 57.5.

Eurostat said Eurozone retail sales growth accelerated unexpectedly in January on both food and non-food turnover. Retail sales were up 1.1 percent on a monthly basis, faster than a revised 0.4 percent growth in December. The monthly growth rate was forecast to ease to 0.2 percent from December's originally estimated growth of 0.3 percent.

The Eurozone private sector expanded in February albeit at a slower than initially estimated pace, survey data from Markit Economics showed. The composite output index rose to 53.3 in February from 52.6 in January, slightly below the flash score of 53.5.

The Euro Stoxx 50 index of eurozone bluechip stocks was losing 0.11 percent, while the Stoxx Europe 50 index, which includes some major U.K. companies, was gaining 0.25 percent.

The FTSE 100 index fell 0.38 percent.

Fresnillo fell 5 percent after reporting decreased profit for the year.

Glencore, Anglo American, Rio Tinto and Randgold Resources were losing between 3.3 percent and 1.5 percent.

Legal & General, which reported annual results, was down 3.5 percent.

ITV climbed 5.5 percent after announcing a special dividend.

Standard Chartered, which announced financial results, gained 5.1 percent.

The Asian stocks followed Wall Street lower as caution set in ahead of the European Central Bank meeting and the all-important U.S. jobs report, which could provide some clues about the timing of the Federal Reserve's interest rate hike this year.

In the U.S., futures point to a lower open on Wall Street. In the previous session, stocks declined with the Dow and the S&P 500 falling about half a percent each, while the tech-heavy Nasdaq slid 0.6 percent.

Crude for April delivery gained $0.29 to $50.81 per barrel, while gold fell $2.8 to $1201.6 a troy ounce.