(Reuters) – Britain’s blue-chip FTSE 100 ended flat on Monday and the midcap index fell to a one-month closing low as investors awaited comments from Bank of England policymakers for clues on the interest rate outlook.
The FTSE 100’s steady close followed four consecutive days of declines.
Mining giants Rio Tinto, Glencore and Anglo American slipped between 1.5% and 1.8% as copper and iron ore prices came under pressure with traders focussing on U.S. President Donald Trump’s tariff threats and changing demand signals from inventories in top consumer China. [MET/L]
BAE Systems jumped 4% after NASA awarded a $230.6 million contract to the defence company over the weekend.
The FTSE 100 breached all-time highs earlier in February, benefiting from positive moves in index heavyweights like drugmaker AstraZeneca, but has slipped more than 1% from the peak.
Global equities have been hurt recently by concerns over U.S. President Trump’s trade stance, sticky inflation in the UK and signs of slowing U.S. economic growth.
BoE Monetary Policy Committee member Swati Dhingra is scheduled to speak later in the day, while Chief Economist Huw Pill is slated to speak on Tuesday.
The midcap FTSE 250 index fell 0.6% to its lowest close since January 28.
Later this week, a reading of the U.S. Personal Consumption Expenditure index will be keenly watched to gauge the Federal Reserve’s interest rate trajectory.
B&M dipped 2.1% after the discount retailer issued a profit warning blaming uncertain economic conditions, and said CEO Alex Russo would retire.
National Grid advanced 2% after the energy company said it had reached a deal to sell its U.S. onshore renewables business to Canadian investment firm Brookfield Asset Management for $1.74 billion including debt.
Wood Group soared 42% after the struggling oilfield services and engineering firm said it had received a fresh approach from Sidara about a possible takeover offer.
(Reporting by Ragini Mathur, Shashwat Chauhan and Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)
