(Reuters) -London’s main stock indexes closed lower on Monday, pressured by industrial shares, while investors assessed a U.S.-EU trade deal along with economic data.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 reversed earlier gains with a 0.4% fall, while the domestically focused midcap FTSE 250 index fell 0.8%.
The U.S. struck a framework trade agreement with the EU on Sunday, which imposes a 15% tariff on most EU goods and requires the bloc to invest around $600 billion in the United States.
However, some European capitals complained it was lopsided in favour of Washington.
Meanwhile, data showed on Monday a downturn in British retail sales extended into its tenth month in July as rising prices weighed on consumers, although the pace of the fall was less severe than in June.
Also on Monday, the U.S. and China met in Stockholm to resume talks to resolve longstanding economic disputes at the centre of a trade war between the world’s top two economies, aiming to extend a truce by three months.
In the market, the industrial subindex led the broader sectoral decline, down 1.6%, with RS Group falling 3.1%.
Precious and industrial metal miners fell nearly 1% and 0.9% respectively, tracking lower gold and metal prices. [MET/L] [GOL/]
Conversely, energy stocks rose 1.2% as oil prices rose. [O/R]
Heavyweight BP gained the most in the FTSE 100, up 2.2%.
Among individual stocks, Ocean Wilsons Holdings slipped more than 14% after the British investment holding company agreed to an all-share merger with Hansa Investment, creating a £900 million ($1.21 billion) diversified investment firm.
The Bank of England is expected to slow the pace soon at which it shrinks its 558 billion-pound ($754 billion) holdings of government bonds, with economists hoping for some clarity next week on the central bank’s longer-term goals for the stockpile.
Traders are currently pricing in an 86.5% chance of a 25 basis point BoE interest rate cut on August 7, according to data compiled by LSEG.
(Reporting by Sukriti Gupta and Sanchayaita Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli; Editing by Chris Reese)
