(Reuters) -Britain’s main stock indexes edged lower on Monday, dragged by losses in financial and energy sector shares, as investors monitor U.S.-led peace negotiations in the Russia-Ukraine conflict.
As of 1010 GMT, the blue-chip FTSE 100 inched 0.1% lower, well below Friday’s intraday record high, though the index closed last week with modest gains. The midcap FTSE 250 also fell 0.1% on Monday.
Markets are bracing for U.S. President Donald Trump’s meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and European leaders later in the day. Ahead of the meeting, Trump told Ukraine to give up hopes of getting back annexed Crimea or joining NATO.
After his Friday’s summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin, Trump has appeared more aligned with Moscow on seeking a full peace deal with Ukraine instead of a ceasefire first.
Energy sector was 0.6% down on Monday, as oil markets were volatile, reacting to Washington’s signals on secondary sanctions on Russian oil. [O/R]
Financial sector was the main underperformer with life insurers index and banking index falling 1% and 0.4% respectively.
On the flip side, defensive stocks such as precious metal miners, healthcare, and utilities rose over 0.5% each.
Economic data on the day revealed that asking prices for newly advertised British properties fell in the four weeks to mid-August, though less notably than in previous months. July sales reached their highest level for that time of year since 2020.
A gauge of Britain’s homebuilders gained 0.9%.
Later this week, attention will turn to the Jackson Hole symposium where U.S. Federal Reserve chair Jerome Powell may offer clues on future interest rate direction.
Among single stocks, bootmaker Dr Martens jumped 8.4% after brokerage firm Peel Hunt upgraded the stock to “buy” from “add”.
(Reporting by Ragini Mathur in Bengaluru; Editing by Sahal Muhammed)
