PrintUK stocks slip as BoE holds rates, Fed hawkishness dents sentiment
BY Reuters | ECONOMIC | 06/18/26 08:53 AM EDT* FTSE 100 down 0.9%, FTMC down 0.8%
* Tesco
* Intertek
* BoE holds rate steady as expected (Updates after BoE decision; adds details, and analyst comments)
June 18 (Reuters) - UK's main stock indexes retreated on Thursday, pressured by miners and financials, after the Bank of England held steady on interest rates, while the Federal Reserve's hawkish stance also weighed on sentiment.
The BoE kept rates on hold at 3.75% as widely expected, with only two of the nine member committee voting in favour of a rate hike amid persistent inflation concerns.
The U.S. Federal Reserve kept rates unchanged on Wednesday, though nine Fed policymakers projected a rate hike this year.
"The conditions don't seem in place for sustained inflationary pressure. So we think the BoE will be able to avoid the kind of monetary tightening that the European Central Bank has already started to deliver and that the Fed hinted at last night," said Luke Bartholomew, deputy chief economist, at Aberdeen.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 index fell 0.87% to 10,416.89 points by 1345 GMT, while the midcap FTSE 250 slipped 0.8%.
* Precious metal miners declined the most, as gold and silver prices eased. Fresnillo and Hocschild Mining fell 6% and 8%, respectively.
* London Stock Exchange
* Rate-sensitive homebuilders shed 2.4%, with Persimmon falling 6.2%, among the worst performers on the benchmark.
* Heavyweight banks were least impacted, with
HSBC
* UK's biggest food retailer Tesco
* Intertek
* The world's largest exhibition group Informa
* Oil giants BP and Shell declined 1.6% each, as oil prices reached to their lowest since start of Iran war.
(Reporting by Utkarsh Hathi in Bengaluru, Additional reporting by Sophie Kiderlin in London; Editing by Tasim Zahid)
