UK's FTSE 100 ticks lower as AstraZeneca drag offsets banks, mining gains

July 9 (Reuters) - The UK's FTSE 100 ended slightly lower on Thursday as heavyweight AstraZeneca dropped after reporting disappointing results from a late-stage trial, offsetting gains in mining and bank stocks.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 index fell 0.2% to 10,472.5 points, while the midcap FTSE 250 climbed 1% to snap a three-day losing streak.

• Pharmaceutical shares were the worst performers, down 4.3%, led by a 6.2% drop in AstraZeneca after the drugmaker's nerve disease drug Wainua, made in partnership with U.S.-based Ionis, failed to meet the main goal of reducing cardiovascular deaths and recurring heart problems in a late-stage trial.

• Precious metal miners rose 4%, tracking higher gold prices as a weaker dollar boosted bullion's appeal, while investors continued to monitor developments in the Middle East for clues on the inflation and interest-rate outlook. [GOL/]

• Industrial metal miners advanced 4.1%, tracking higher base metal prices, while heavyweight banks added 2.2%.

• Iranian armed forces launched attacks on U.S. military infrastructure in Gulf states following U.S. strikes on Iran's southern coastal and eastern provinces, putting further strain on a three-week-old ceasefire agreement.

• Oil prices meanwhile slipped over 1%, dragging UK energy shares down 1.5%.

• Playtech topped the midcap index, rising 14.1% after the gaming firm forecast 2026 adjusted core profit above market expectations on robust growth in the U.S. and Latin America.

• Computacenter was among the top performers on the benchmark, rising more than 7.2% after the IT services provider said it expects annual results to exceed market expectations, helped by strong demand for AI-related infrastructure from hyperscale customers in North America and the UK.

(Reporting by Tharuniyaa Lakshmi and Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar)