(Reuters) -British stocks edged lower on Tuesday, after a holiday closure on Monday, due to lingering tariff concerns and their economic impact, with attention shifting to upcoming Bank of England and U.S. Federal Reserve policy decisions.
By 1019 GMT, the FTSE 100 was down 0.2%, poised to end its 15-session winning streak.
The domestically focused midcap index also retreated 0.1%, on track to break its eight-session upward run.
Investors have recently hoped for easing U.S.-China trade tensions, but limited details have kept markets struggling to interpret the headlines coming out of the White House.
On Sunday, U.S. President Donald Trump slapped a 100% tariff on movies produced outside the United States, while on Monday, he said he plans to announce pharmaceutical tariffs over the next two weeks.
Attention now shifts to Bank of England policy decision, with expectations of a 25-basis-point rate cut on Thursday. The accompanying statement will be closely watched, as some investors call for a faster rate-cut approach due to global growth impacts from Trump’s tariffs.
Meanwhile, U.S. Federal Reserve policymakers are likely to maintain current interest rates at Wednesday’s meeting.
On the bluechip index, Anglo American fell 4.6%, after Peabody Energy said it may terminate the deal to buy the miner’s Australian coal assets due to issues at Moranbah North mine.
An index of the UK’s industrial metal miners dropped 2%.
Oil major BP inched up 1% after Bloomberg News reported on Saturday that rival Shell is working with advisers to evaluate a potential acquisition of the company.
Shares of Deliveroo hit an over three-year high, as U.S. meal delivery firm DoorDash agreed to buy the British rival in a deal valued at about 2.9 billion pounds ($3.85 billion).
On the data front, Britain’s services sector, accounting for much of the economy, shrank in April for the first time since October 2023 and at the fastest pace in over two years, according to a survey that showed U.S. tariff turmoil is hammering exports and sentiment.
(Reporting by Ragini Mathur in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore)
