London stocks slip as defence stocks weigh
By Pranav Kashyap and Purvi Agarwal
(Reuters) -Britain’s FTSE 100 snapped its six-session winning streak on Monday, hurt by losses in aerospace and defence stocks, while investors awaited more data and comments from Bank of England (BoE) officials on the state of the economy.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 fell 0.2% after hitting record highs in 11 out of last 13 sessions as the BoE took a dovish stance. The mid-cap FTSE 250 followed suit, sliding 0.4% while the pound was stronger against the dollar at $1.2557.
“The FTSE 100 has taken a bit of a breather from its record rally opening flat and losing some ground as the session has progressed,” said Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown.
“It’s maybe some profit-taking by some investors who’ve benefited from these this recent winning streak of the FTSE 100.”
Aerospace and defence stocks slipped 1.8%, logging their worst day in more than two weeks, and leading declines on the index. The sector was pulled down by BAE Systems with a 3.2% decline after BofA Global Research’s downgraded the stock to “neutral” from “buy”.
Investors’ focus will shift to labour market data due on Tuesday and comments later in the week 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.
U.S. inflation data, due on Wednesday, will also be on the radar for more pointers to the Federal Reserve’s interest-rate path.
In corporate news, BHP Group said on Monday that Anglo American had rejected a revised buyout offer valuing the company at 34 billion pounds ($42.67 billion), sending its shares down 3.2%.
Phoenix Group fell 2.3% after the insurer announced its chief financial officer Rakesh Thakrar would step down from the role.
Diploma Plc was the top gainer on the FTSE 100, rising 4% to hit a record high after the technical products and services provider gave an upbeat forecast.
(Reporting by Pranav Kashyap and Purvi Agarwal in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala, Eileen Soreng and Alex Richardson)
