London's FTSE 100 edged lower on Monday as falling precious-metal miners outweighed gains in financial stocks, even as a wave of takeover news lifted individual names. The blue-chip index slipped 0.1% while the midcap FTSE 250 dipped 0.06%.
The FTSE 100 fell 0.1% to 10,663.68 points by 1037 GMT, with losses among miners cancelling out strength in financials. The midcap FTSE 250 slipped 0.06% over the same session.
Gold weakness drags miners
Precious-metal miners fell 0.9% after gold slipped from a two-week high. The move came as the U.S. dollar ticked up ahead of the Federal Reserve's latest policy meeting minutes, due later this week. Because the FTSE 100 is weighted by company size, that drop in large mining names was enough to pull the headline index lower.
Takeovers lift easyJet and ITV
Deal headlines pushed several stocks the other way. Travel and leisure shares rose 0.7%, led by easyJet, which gained 9.9% after agreeing in principle to a sweetened takeover offer from U.S. investment firm Castlelake that values the carrier at up to 5.5 billion pounds ($7.34 billion).
Media stocks led sectoral gains, rising 0.9%, helped by a 3.9% jump in WPP. ITV added 1.6% after agreeing to sell its media and entertainment division to Comcast-owned Sky for 1.6 billion pounds ($2.13 billion). David Morrison, senior market analyst at Trade Nation, told Reuters the flow of U.S. and Chinese money into UK assets made it a good moment to invest in British companies.
Not every stock joined the deal rally. Ocado fell 5.6% after the online grocery technology firm said Tim Steiner would stay as CEO until the start of the 2028 financial year, when it aims to have a successor in place.
Sources: Reuters, Finimize (snippet-based)
Trading involves risk.
Risk Disclaimer
