Global risk-off mood hits FTSE 100, Schroders jumps on buyout

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FTSE 100 down 0.7%, FTSE 250 down 0.4%

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Schroders (SHNWF) surges after Nuveen buyout announcement

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UK GDP growth stagnates at 0.1% in Q4

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Unilever warns of weak 2026 sales growth ?in US, Europe

(Updates to market close)

Feb 12 (Reuters) - ?The UK's FTSE 100 closed lower on Thursday, as a risk-off mood in ?global markets offset a nearly 30% surge in shares of money ?manager Schroders (SHNWF) after it agreed to a takeover ?by U.S. firm ?Nuveen.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 closed down 0.7%, slipping off the record high it ?hit earlier in the day. ?The FTSE 250 mid-cap index was down 0.4%. Wall Street was a hit by a renewed selloff on ?AI concerns, with the main indexes ?falling more ?than 1%.

Schroders' (SHNWF) shares jumped as much as 28.5% to their highest in more than four years after U.S. asset ?manager Nuveen agreed to buy the company for 9.9 billion ?pounds ($13.5 billion) in one of Europe's largest fund management deals. Broader macro signals were also in focus as Britain's GDP showed the economy grew just 0.1% in the fourth quarter, matching ?the previous ?quarter's pace and partly reflecting uncertainty in the run-up ?to finance minister Rachel Reeves' November budget.

Thursday's figures, which showed ?a sharp downward revision to monthly GDP and a nearly 3% drop in business investment driven by volatile transport outlays, underscored why investors see the Bank of England as more likely than not to cut rates again in March. Among other movers, British American Tobacco (BTI) dropped 0.4% after announcing ?job cuts and full-year results. Shares of pest-control firm Rentokil Initial (RTO) fell 6.8% as U.S. peer Rollins missed Wall Street estimates ?for fourth-quarter revenue and earnings. (Reporting by ?Tharuniyaa Lakshmi in Bengaluru; Editing by ?Maju Samuel and Cynthia Osterman)