London's main indexes gain on miners boost ahead of Fed, BoE decisions
FTSE Index Performance and Market Drivers
By Utkarsh Hathi and Tharuniyaa Lakshmi
June 17 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE indexes closed higher on Wednesday, with gains in miners offsetting broader declines, while investors weighed domestic inflation data ahead of interest rate decisions by the Bank of England and the U.S. Federal Reserve.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 closed up 0.14% at 10,508.61 points, while the midcap FTSE 250 added 0.16%.
Sector Highlights
Miners and Banks Lead Gains
• Precious metal miners rose 3.3% in their fifth consecutive session of gains, their longest gaining streak since late February — when the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran began.
• Banks were the biggest boost to the benchmark FTSE 100, with Barclays rising 3.4% after BofA Global Research raised its price target
Market Sentiment Ahead of Central Bank Decisions
• Markets are awaiting the Fed's interest rate decision due later in the day, with focus on comments from new Chair Kevin Warsh.
• Back home, British inflation unexpectedly held at 2.8% for May, compared with a 3% rise economists polled by Reuters had expected.
• The data prompted traders to trim their expectations for a rate hike later this year, a day ahead of the BoE's rate decision, widely expected to remain steady.
Homebuilders and Housing Market
• Homebuilders gained 3.2%. Separately, British house prices rose in the year to April, data showed.
Investor Perspectives and Sector Weaknesses
Investor Dilemma
Economic Resilience vs. Rate Hike Concerns
• "For the investor it is a dilemma; good news for the economy's resilience is bad news as it justifies a rate hike," said Nick Saunders, CEO of online investment platform Webull UK.
Consumer and Energy Sectors Underperform
• On the flip side, consumer-leaning stocks were the biggest weights, with the personal goods sub-index down 2.3%, and the personal care, drug and grocery index off 1%.
• Oil giants BP and ShellL> were down 1.6% and 1% respectively, dragging the energy index down 1.2%.
(Reporting by Utkarsh Hathi and Tharuniyaa Lakshmi in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid and Joyjeet Das)
