London’s FTSE 100 inched up on Monday, extending gains after a series of record highs last week, as investors turned their focus to more corporate updates and comments from the Bank of England (BoE) on the state of the British economy later in the week.
By 7:17 GMT, the blue-chip FTSE 100 edged 0.1% higher after hitting record highs in 11 out of the previous 13 sessions as the BoE took a dovish stance, while a weaker pound supported the overall rally.
The mid-cap FTSE 250 was also up 0.1%.
Focus this week will shift to labour market data due on Tuesday and on comments from BoE’s chief economist Huw Pill and external member of the monetary policy panel Megan Greene for clues on the timing of the policy easing.
FTSE 100 extends record hitting streak as UK exits recession
Aerospace and defence sector fell 1.3% and was among the top losers, while precious metal miners slid 0.5% as gold prices inched down..
Diploma Plc surged 5.2% to the top of the FTSE 100 as the technical products and services provider gave an upbeat forecast.
On the flip side, Rio Tinto was among the bottom performers on the benchmark index, falling 1% after the miner said an autonomous train had derailed at its Western Australian iron ore operations overnight.