FTSE 100 falls on rate-hike worries; Playtech soars

[LONDON] London's FTSE 100 slipped on Monday as investors ramped up bets of a quicker interest rate hike by the Bank of England, while gaming company Playtech soared after a £2.1 billion (S$3.89 billion) takeover offer by Australia's Aristocrat Leisure.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 index declined 0.1 per cent by 0810 GMT (4.10 pm Singapore time), with AstraZeneca and Diageo being among the top losers.

Softbank-backed online retailer and tech group, The Hut Group, rose 8.4 per cent after saying it would remove its founder's "golden share" and seek a place on the premium segment of the main stock market.

A survey of chief financial officers at top British companies found that they expect supply-chain problems in the UK to persist for at least another year and consumer price inflation to still be above 2.5 per cent in two years' time.

Supply worries and rising energy costs have slowed the pace of gains on the FTSE 100 recently and led the benchmark index to underperform developed market peers in Europe and the United States.

While US and the wider European stock aggregate have hit multiple record highs this year, the FTSE 100 is around 8 per cent away from all-time highs that were last hit in May 2018.

"If consumers are facing higher energy prices and higher prices of goods in the shops, they may start to become less spend-happy, buying less at some point, which then could have an impact on companies," said Susannah Streeter, market analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.

The domestically focused mid-cap index was unchanged.

Investor sentiment also took a hit after data showed China's economy grew more slowly than expected in the third quarter, clouding the global recovery outlook.

Gaming software supplier Playtech soared 58 per cent on news of Australia's Aristocrat Leisure's move to buy it for £2.1 billion pounds

British transport group National Express and its takeover target Stagecoach Group dropped 1.7 per cent and 2.1 per cent, respectively, after the regulator extended the deadline to Nov 16 for National Express to make a firm offer.

REUTERS