UK shares were subdued on Monday, weighed down by the losses in base metal miners, while traders refrained from placing big bets ahead of a key US inflation print.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 was down 0.1%, as of 0912 GMT, pulled down by a 1.9% drop in industrial metal miners , as iron ore prices extended their declines on persistently weak fundamentals in China.
However, sectors that usually hold up their performances in times of economic slowdown, such as pharmaceuticals, medical equipment and services, and consumer staples gained between 0.4% and 1%, limiting losses on the benchmark index.
Market focus for this week is on the US consumer prices reading and domestic labour market data, both due on Tuesday, which would likely guide interest rate expectations from the central banks.
“If we see another month of surprisingly strong inflation data from the US, we could see actually a broader sell off in the equity markets globally,” said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior market analyst at Swissquote Bank.
Money markets are currently pricing in about 67 basis points of interest rate cuts from the Bank of England (BoE) this year.
FTSE 100 logs weekly losses, lags European peers
In some relief to the BoE, a survey showed Britain’s labour market slowed sharply in February, as recruitment firms reported their biggest drop in demand for staff from employers since early 2021.
The mid-cap FTSE 250 slipped 0.1%, led by an 8.7% slump in Currys after US investor Elliott Advisors said it does not intend to make an offer for the electricals retailer.
Marks & Spencer added 2.1%, after RBC Capital Markets upgraded the retailer to “Outperform” from “Sector perform.”
Vanquis Banking Group slumped 36.2%, after the lender warned about materially lower income in 2024 compared to market estimates.
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