UK’s FTSE 100 edged lower on Monday as base metal miners lost ground on weak copper prices, while declines in homebuilders following the UK antitrust watchdog’s investigation into the sector further pressured equities.
The resource-heavy FTSE 100 index was down 0.1% as of 0818 GMT, while the mid-cap FTSE 250 slipped 0.2%.
Industrial metal miners fell 1.8%, tracking declines in copper prices on the back of a firmer dollar and rising inventories in top consumer China.
Homebuilders were down 2.2% and led sectoral declines after the Competition and Markets Authority said it has started an investigation into eight firms to see whether any commercially sensitive information was being shared among the companies.
FTSE 100 rises on Standard Chartered boost
Investors await comments from Bank of England Deputy Governor Sarah Breeden and chief economist Huw Pill, due later in the day, for clues regarding the timing of interest rate cuts.
Among individual stocks, Wincanton jumped 10.5% after CEVA Logistics, a unit of French shipping firm CMA CGM, raised its offer to buy the firm to about 604.7 million pounds ($766.2 million).
Bunzl slid 5.3% after the business supplies distributor warned its operating margin this year would be slightly below 2023 levels.
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