Britain’s commodity-heavy FTSE 100 tracked a decline in oil and mining stocks on Monday as hawkish central banks stoke recession worries, while investors await corporate results from Europe and the United States.
The benchmark FTSE 100 index .FTSE was down 0.3% by 0705 GMT.
Oil majors Shell SHEL.L and BP BP.L declined more than 1% each, while miners .FTNMX551020 fell 0.4%, tracking weakness in commodity prices on fears that an expected U.S. interest rate hike this week will dampen demand. O/RMET/L
The domestically focussed mid-cap index .FTMC slid 0.3%.
In company news, SThree STEMS.L rose 4.5% after posting a 58% surge in its half-year operating profit, supported by strong hiring demand and as people move jobs in a competitive market. Read full story
Mobile and broadband group Vodafone VOD.L slipped 0.4% after reporting a drop in first-quarter service revenue in its largest market, Germany, reflecting broadband and TV losses in the second half of its last financial year after regulation changes. Read full story
Serica Energy SQZ.L gained 2.4% after it rejected a revised merger proposal again from energy investment firm Kistos KIST.L, which valued the British oil and gas group at nearly 1.2 billion pounds ($1.44 billion). Kistos fell 2.4%. Read full story
(Reuters)