Britain’s principal stock indexes moved lower on Thursday, driven by weakness in financials and materials as market participants awaited the Bank of England’s policy decision. The BoE is widely expected to keep its policy rate at 3.75% later this morning, following a U.S. Federal Reserve meeting that left rates unchanged on Wednesday.
Markets are also factoring in lingering inflation pressures. The article notes that nine Federal Reserve policymakers see a rate increase this year, and that inflation concerns continue to weigh on consumers.
Market performance
- The blue-chip FTSE 100 fell 0.94% to 10,410.01 points by 10:16 GMT.
- The midcap FTSE 250 slipped 0.63%.
Sector and stock movers
- Financials were notably weak. The London Stock Exchange dropped 3.5% after Rothschild Redburn lowered its rating to "neutral", while investment firm 3i Group declined 4.3%.
- Precious metal miners led broad sectoral losses, falling about 5% overall. Within that group, Fresnillo was down 5.8% and Hocschild Mining fell 7%.
- Tesco, Britain’s largest food retailer, slipped 2.2% after reporting a slowdown in first-quarter sales growth.
- Rate-sensitive homebuilders lost ground, with the group down 2.6% and Persimmon plunging 6.4% to become the benchmark’s worst performer.
- Intertek rose 1.5% after agreeing to be taken over by Swedish private equity firm EQT.
- Informa was the top FTSE 100 performer, gaining 2.3% after forecasting stronger growth in 2027.
- Oil majors BP and Shell each declined about 1.5% as oil prices fell to their lowest level since the start of the Iran war.
The near-term trading environment reflects a mix of policy anticipation and company-specific developments. With the BoE decision imminent and a subset of Fed policymakers signalling the possibility of higher rates later in the year, markets remain sensitive to interest-rate trajectories and inflation dynamics.