FTSE 100 subdued as gains from less hawkish Fed comments tempered by global caution

Dec 11 (Reuters) - ‌London's FTSE 100 held steady on Thursday, as the U.S. Federal ‍Reserve chairman's ‌comments, suggesting a less hawkish stance than anticipated, were met with a ⁠global cautious sentiment that limited gains.

The ‌UK's blue-chip FTSE 100 was up 0.1% by 1043 GMT, while the mid-cap FTSE 250 index was little changed.

The Fed lowered rates by an expected 25 basis points in ⁠a divided vote on Wednesday, but signalled interest rates are unlikely to fall further in the ​near term as it awaits clarity on the ‌labour market.

"Though Powell stressed a wait-and-watch ⁠approach, the statement and press conference were less hawkish than feared... the door thus remains open for further easing, though at a slower pace," said ​Mohit Kumar, an economist at Jefferies.

Healthcare stocks on the FTSE 100 were the biggest boosts, with AstraZeneca up 1% and Convatec adding 2.6%. 

Miners gained 0.2%, tracking a rise in copper prices.

However, utilities declined 0.5%, while tech stocks, ​though ‍not heavily weighted on the ​benchmark index, slipped by 0.8%.

Investors adopted a cautious stance against tech stocks globally following a dour forecast from U.S. cloud firm Oracle, renewing some concerns over valuation and returns on lofty AI investments, which had caused a sell-off in November.

Among individual stocks, Entain fell 3.4% to the bottom of the FTSE ⁠100, after the gambling firm said International Distribution Services executive Michael Snape will replace current finance chief and deputy ​CEO Rob Wood next year.

Associated British Foods fell 2% as the Primark owner traded without entitlement to its latest dividend payout.

RS Group topped the FTSE 250 with a 5.7% gain after a rating upgrade ‌from J.P.Morgan, while Ceres Power slid 3.5% after Grizzly Research disclosed a short position in the clean-energy firm. 

(Reporting by Tharuniyaa Lakshmi in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore)