London’s FTSE 100 was flat on Monday as investors turned cautious ahead of key inflation data in the United States, while a downtick in oil and copper prices weighed.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 was unchanged after touching a two-week high on Friday, while the mid-cap FTSE 250 was off 0.1% at 0709 GMT.
The energy sector fell 0.3%, in tandem with oil prices, as concerns of higher-for-longer interest rates in the U.S. strengthened the dollar. [O/R]
Industrial miners slipped 0.7%, as concerns of muted Chinese demand kept traders on the sidelines, pulling down copper prices. [MET/L]
The Bank of England (BoE) kept interest rates unchanged on Thursday, with renewed hopes of an August rate cut after comments from policymakers.
A domestic inflation report last week showed that headline inflation in the economy had fallen to 2% – the BoE’s target.
In the U.S., the personal consumption expenditure numbers (PCE) are due on Friday. Investors are banking on the data to show a renewed moderation in inflation.
Also due are the gross domestic product numbers in the UK, that will shed more light on the state of the British economy, after strong retail sales data on Friday tempered some optimism from the BoE’s comments.
Prudential gained 4.6% after the insurance group said it planned a $2 billion share buyback programme, to be completed by mid-2026.
Shares of HG Group gained 4.7% after the ecommerce company agreed to sell its portfolio of luxury goods website to Fraser’s Group for an undisclosed sum. Fraser’s Group was up 0.9%.
