UK stocks subdued as focus turns to Fed meeting outcome

Reuters · 03/17/2021 08:16
UK stocks subdued as focus turns to Fed meeting outcome

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FTSE 100 down 0.1%, FTSE 250 off 0.3%

March 17 (Reuters) - British shares slipped on Wednesday, dragged by miners and energy stocks, as investors awaited the outcome of the U.S. Federal Reserve's policy meeting for clues about interest rates.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 index .FTSE was down 0.1%, with mining stocks, including Rio Tinto RIO.L, Anglo American AAL.L, and BHP Group BHPB.L, falling between 0.5% and 1%.

Oil heavyweights BP BP.L and Royal Dutch Shell RDSa.L were also among the laggards.

A spate of volatility in money markets has stoked speculation the Fed may be forced into a technical adjustment to the levers controlling its benchmark interest rate to ensure that it does not fall too low, but few expect the central bank to act on the matter at this week's meeting. MKTS/GLOB

The domestically focused mid-cap FTSE 250 index .FTMC fell 0.3%, dragged by consumer discretionary and financials stocks.

Retail investment platform Hargreaves Lansdown HRGV.L rose 3.2%, as it expects its profit for the year ending June 30 to be "modestly" above analyst estimates. nASN000YN3

Outsourcer Capita CPI.L rose 6.3% after its plan to merge multiple businesses into two core operating divisions and to raise 700 million pounds ($973.98 million) from sales of other assets. nL4N2LF1SC


($1 = 0.7187 pounds)


(Reporting by Shivani Kumaresan in Bengaluru; editing by Uttaresh.V)

((Shivani.Kumaresan@thomsonreuters.com; +1 646 223 8780;))

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