London close: Crude prices, policy meetings and Carney weigh on FTSE

London equities closed down on Monday amid sharply lower crude prices and as the market looks to policy calls from Bank of England and the US Federal Reserve later in the week.

BoE issues its policy decision on Thursday, with rates seen unchanged, and its quarterly inflation report. The Fed is expected to leave policy unchanged on Wednesday.

Both central banks are issuing their rates calls against a fabric of political uncertainty; Stateside it is the US election wrangle between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, while in the UK it is Brexit and related economic concerns.

This as Lloyds´s business confidence barometer rose to 37 in October from 24 a month earlier, indicating UK business confidence had improved since the Brexit vote.

FTSE 100 closed down 42.04 points, or 0.60%, to 6,954.22. FTSE 250 fell 100.59 points, or 0.57%, to 17,544.24.

Nevertheless, the top flight index finished higher for a fifth month in a row, gaining 54.89 points in October.

"With (BoE) Governor Mark Carney’s future at the Bank of England still an unknown the markets have continued to fall this Monday, the US open doing little to spark a recovery," said SpreadEx financial analyst Connor Campbell.

"Talking of Carney, despite Theresa May’s backing, and a sudden No. 10 meeting, the FTSE and pound continued to fret over the employment status of the Canadian central banker (at the helm of BoE)," Campbell said in a statement.

Reports have suggested that Carney is mulling stepping down in 2018, before his eight-year term ends. He has taken heat for being too political over Brexit and incorrect forecasts before and after the vote. A spokesman told the BBC he will make a decision by the end of the year.

On the company news front, ad giant WPP rallied after reporting a 23.4% increase in third-quarter revenues, although like-for-like sales growth slowed.

Macquarie lifted its metallurgical coal price forecasts for 2017 by 24%, for 2018 by 4% and for the longer-term by 10%. It also lifted those for thermal coal by 11%, 8% and "just under" 5%, respectively.

In turn, that saw its analysts hike their target prices on shares of Anglo American (from 815p to 1175p), of BHP Billiton (from 1360p to 1470p), of Glencore (from 200p to 250p), of Rio Tinto (from 3400p to 3500p), of South 32 from 180p to 210p and of Anglo Pacific (from 15op to 200p).

Essentra gained as it appointed Paul Forman as chief executive to succeed Colin Day, who steps down on 31 December.

Centamin edged higher on expecting 2016 gold production to be towards the upper end of its 520,000-540,000 ounces guidance, following a 41% spike in third-quarter output.

High-street retailer Next was among the biggest blue-chip fallers ahead of its third-quarter results on Wednesday.

Tesco dived as it faces a damages claim for more than £100m, filed by 125 institutional funds, linked to its over-statement of profits and alleged misleading statements to the stock market.

Oil titans BP and Shell were also southbound, largely in sync with crude's price demise.

Crude's tumble came after non-Opec producers made no commitment to join the cartel in curbing output to prop up prices during a meeting in Vienna on Saturday.

At 16:48 GMT, West Texas Intermediate was down 3.13% to $47.22 a barrel, while Brent was down 3.13% at $48.20 a barrel.

On the economic front, BoE data showed UK mortgage approvals rose to 62,932 in September from 60,984 in August and above economists' forecast for 61,500. On the FTSE, however, house builders' share prices were tending lower.

BoE data also showed consumer lending growth slowed and missed estimates. It rose by £1.405bn in September compared to forecasts of £1.5bn and the previous month’s £1.635bn increase.

Across the channel, euro-zone inflation rose an annualised 0.5% in October, after a 0.4% rise in September, as expected. It remained below the European Central Bank's near-2% target.

Euro-zone gross domestic product in the three months to end-September edged up 0.3% on-quarter and 1.6% on the year. Both were unchanged from second quarter and were in line with estimates.

"The preliminary flash estimate of Eurozone third-quarter GDP supports the message from earlier country data that the pace of growth remains fairly slow," said Capital Economics.

"So it is no surprise that October’s inflation data show that underlying price pressures are still very weak."

Meantime, US personal income and spending were slightly weaker than expected in September. Incomes rose 0.3% on the month, while spending was ahead by 0.5%, Department of Commerce said. Economists forecast rises of 0.4% and 0.5%.

The headline price deflator for personal consumption expenditures rose by 0.2% over the month and by 0.1% at the 'core' level.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,954.22 -0.60%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 17,544.24 -0.57%
techMARK (TASX) 3,366.92 -0.85%

FTSE 100 - Risers

WPP (WPP) 1,783.00p 4.39%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 7,240.00p 3.43%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,133.00p 3.05%
Glencore (GLEN) 250.30p 2.37%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 543.00p 2.26%
Mediclinic International (MDC) 907.00p 2.25%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,643.00p 1.92%
Carnival (CCL) 3,936.00p 1.52%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 1,280.00p 1.35%
Bunzl (BNZL) 2,204.00p 1.33%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Next (NXT) 4,820.00p -3.10%
Shire Plc (SHP) 4,650.00p -2.75%
Prudential (PRU) 1,334.50p -2.52%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 189.50p -2.32%
Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,183.00p -2.15%
Tesco (TSCO) 211.15p -2.13%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 1,774.00p -2.04%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 339.90p -1.96%
Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 2,115.00p -1.86%
Associated British Foods (ABF) 2,462.00p -1.79%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Just Eat (JE.) 562.00p 5.05%
Ibstock (IBST) 167.10p 2.96%
Hunting (HTG) 504.50p 2.35%
Investec (INVP) 507.50p 1.91%
BBA Aviation (BBA) 258.30p 1.85%
Essentra (ESNT) 510.00p 1.80%
Drax Group (DRX) 317.60p 1.66%
Capital & Counties Properties (CAPC) 288.90p 1.37%
Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 1,048.00p 1.35%
DFS Furniture (DFS) 257.40p 1.30%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Tullow Oil (TLW) 265.50p -5.52%
NCC Group (NCC) 189.50p -4.29%
Laird (LRD) 145.00p -3.97%
Cranswick (CWK) 2,118.00p -3.64%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 285.60p -3.58%
FirstGroup (FGP) 109.60p -3.44%
AO World (AO.) 157.70p -3.25%
Hill & Smith Holdings (HILS) 1,004.00p -3.09%
Sports Direct International (SPD) 276.70p -3.05%
Fidessa Group (FDSA) 2,447.00p -2.94%