LONDON MARKETS: Shire Shares Sink In London, Weighing On FTSE 100

By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.K. stocks fell Wednesday, with shares of Shire PLC plunging as U.S. drug maker AbbVie Inc. indicated it's reconsidering a plan to acquire the biopharmaceutical firm.

Investors were also awaiting the release of U.K. jobs data, due at 9:30 a.m. London time.

The FTSE 100 fell 0.6% to 6,354.44, led by a 27% slide in Shire shares . The shares were hit after AbbVie Inc. (ABBV) signaled late Tuesday it may be rethinking its $54 billion planned purchase of Shire because new tax rules from the U.S. Treasury Department make the deal less attractive. AbbVie's board will meet next week to discuss their recommendation to buy Shire.

Shares of British drug maker AstraZeneca PLC fell 4.1%. The company earlier this year fought off a $120 takeover approach from U.K. drug giant Pfizer Inc. (PFE).

In other action, shares of Balfour Beatty PLC climbed 10% after the construction services company named Leo Quinn as its chief executive. He previously served for five years as CEO at defense technology maker QinetiQ Group PLC . Shares of QinetiQ fell 8.3%.

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