UK's FTSE 100 kicks off week on grim note; miners fall

THE UK’s blue-chip FTSE 100 inched lower on Monday (Mar 6) as miners slumped, following top metals consumer China’s decision to set a modest growth target for the year, offsetting a strong performance by Ireland-based gaming company, Flutter.

The export-oriented FTSE 100 fell 0.2 per cent. The more domestically-focused FTSE 250 was flat by 9.25 GMT.

The FTSE 350 industrial metals miners slid 2.4 per cent.

Copper prices were in the red as top consumer China set a lower-than-expected gross domestic product target of 5 per cent. Policy sources had recently told Reuters a range as high as 6 per cent could be set.

“We’ve got a little bit of caution, and we saw commodities a little bit lower because of that modest growth expectation from China, which is impacting the general market mood at the start of the day,” said Giles Coghlan, chief market analyst at HYCM.

In the previous week, both the large-cap and the mid-cap FTSE indexes had a strong run, as appetite for risk grew after data showed resilience in the domestic economy, amid hopes that the Bank of England might come to the end of its monetary tightening cycle.

Meanwhile, US bank Citi published a monthly survey by YouGov that showed the British public’s expectations for annual inflation rose to 5.6 per cent in February from 5.4 per cent in January, and expectations for the long term also rose.

Flutter Entertainment rose 2.4 per cent and Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings surged 17.8 per cent on price target raises by brokerages.

AstraZeneca said a mid-stage trial of its cancer drug Enhertu showed positive results for treating other tumours as well. However, the stock oscillated between gains and losses.

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Clarkson added 5.1 per cent after the shipping services provider reported a strong annual profit. REUTERS