UK’s FTSE 100 falls on energy, miners drag

UK’s FTSE 100 falls on energy, miners drag

By Shashwat Chauhan

(Reuters) -The UK’s FTSE 100 fell on Monday as losses in heavyweight energy and mining stocks outweighed broader market gains, while the focus slowly shifted to the United States’ jobs data due later in the week.

The commodities-heavy FTSE 100 fell 0.3%, while the more domestically-focussed FTSE 250 midcap index added 0.5%.

The oil and gas sector fell 2.0% as crude oil prices fell on persistent pressure from the OPEC+ decision and uncertainty over global fuel demand growth. [O/R]

Industrial metal miners slipped 2.5% as copper prices fell from near four-month highs on a stronger dollar. [MET/L]

The aerospace and defence sector added 0.6%, helping limit losses. Shares of Rolls-Royce gained 3.0% after J.P. Morgan upgraded the engineering company’s stock to “overweight” from “neutral”.

Across other assets in the UK, the pound dipped 0.3% against the dollar, while yields on UK government bonds were largely subdued.

Meanwhile, the market will eye a bunch of U.S. employment data this week, with an October JOLTS number and November ADP National Employment report due during the week in the lead up to the more comprehensive November non-farm payrolls report on Friday.

“As ever, market narrative will be swayed by the outcome of the number, with the market hoping for a level which supports the likelihood of a soft landing, without being too strong so as to reopen the hiking debate,” Richard Hunter, head of markets at interactive investor said.

Among individual stocks, DS Smith rose 2.3% after Barclays upgraded the cardboard maker’s stock to “overweight” from “equal-weight”.

888 Holdings jumped 13.0% on a report that the bookmaker rejected a 700 million pound ($886.69 mln) buyout offer from Playtech in July.

Wizz Air fell 1% after Deutsche Bank downgraded the European budget carrier’s stock to “sell” from “hold”.

(Reporting by Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman)