(Reuters) - London's FTSE 100 edged lower on Thursday as a 9% drop in private equity company 3i and a handful of stocks trading ex-dividend overshadowed an earnings-driven surge in luxury brand Burberry.
The main index shed 0.1% as 3i Group <III.L> hit a five-month low after its first-half report and heavyweight components Sainsbury <SBRY.L>, Shell <RDSa.L> <RDSb.L> and GSK <GSK.L> dragged as they traded without dividend entitlement.
Luxury brand Burberry <BRBY.L>, however, surged 8% as the popularity of designer Riccardo Tisci's collections boosted quarterly sales and offset declines in Hong Kong where trading was hit by ongoing protests.
The mid-cap FTSE 250 <.FTMC> was largely unchanged by 0810 GMT.
(Reporting by Shashwat Awasthi in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)
