London close: Stocks weaker on globally subdued day

London's stock markets closed in the red on a globally subdued Monday, with investors eagerly anticipating the Bank of England's monetary policy decision expected later this week.

The FTSE 100 ended the session down 0.71% at 7,588.48, while the FTSE 250 also ended the day lower, closing 0.93% weaker at 18,854.29.

Starting the week on a sombre note, trading sentiment was downbeat right from the onset, following a weak session in Asia amid mounting concerns over China's economic growth prospects, thereby impacting global sentiment.

The absence of any trading in New York for the Juneteenth federal holiday meant any transatlantic stimulus was absent through the afternoon as well.

On the currency front, sterling was down 0.07% to recently trade at $1.2808, while it gained 0.07% on the common currency to change hands at €1.1727 this afternoon.

"Stocks have succumbed to a round of profit-taking in today’s session, with the moves to the downside amplified by the absence of volume thanks to the US holiday," said IG chief market analyst Chris Beauchamp.

"Becalmed by an empty calendar, markets have drifted lower, though with Powell testifying later in the week traders shouldn’t assume the dip buyers will immediately step in tomorrow."

UK house prices fall for first time this year, says Rightmove

In economic news, fresh industry data presented an unexpected turn in the UK housing market, with house prices experiencing their first monthly fall of the year in June.

The latest data from Rightmove showed a slight decline of £82, bringing the average new seller asking price to £372,812 for the month.

In contrast, May saw a 1.8% increase in house prices.

The year-on-year comparison revealed a modest rise of 1.1% in prices, with the early onset of the typical summer slowdown considered the reason behind the first June fall since 2017, coming after a delayed surge in spring activity.

Historically, June has seen an average rise of 0.6% in asking prices over the last decade.

Although mortgage rates had recently experienced hikes, buyer demand demonstrated resilience and remained consistent throughout June.

It was found to be 6% higher compared to the same period in 2019.

However, the number of agreed sales did not echo this trend, falling 6% in the last two weeks when compared to the same period in 2019, a further slip from the 3% lower recorded in May.

“Asking new seller prices, the first and leading indicator of new trends in the market, have dropped slightly this month,” said Tim Bannister, director of property science at Rightmove.

“We expect prices to edge down during the second half of the year, which is the normal seasonal pattern, [and] current trends suggest our forecast for a 2% annual drop in asking prices at the end of 2023 is still valid.”

Elsewhere, Goldman Sachs revised down its growth expectations for China overnight.

Following a robust start in the first quarter, the country's recovery trajectory in the post-reopening phase seemed to have lost momentum in the second quarter.

The banking giant believed that the government stimulus might not suffice to boost the economy.

As a result, Goldman downgraded its full-year real GDP growth forecast for 2023 to 5.4% - a notable decrease from its previous forecast of 6.0%.

Moreover, the 2024 growth prediction was also marginally reduced to 4.5% from the earlier figure of 4.6%.

Kainos tumbles, Entain lifted by broker upgrade

On London’s equity markets, software company Kainos Group tumbled 5.65% after it announced that its CEO would be stepping down after a 22-year tenure.

Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca took a hit of 1.2%, following a Financial Times report that the company intended to separate its China business.

Coca-Cola HBC's shares reversed earlier gains to slip 0.47% by the close, as investors digested the company's latest acquisition.

The company agreed to purchase Brown-Forman Finland, owner of the popular Finlandia vodka brand, in a deal worth $220m.

On the upside, Ladbrokes owner Entain was boosted 1.35%, following HSBC's decision to upgrade its rating to 'buy'.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,588.48 -0.71%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 18,854.29 -0.93%
techMARK (TASX) 4,549.31 -0.86%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Next (NXT) 6,742.00p 4.72%
Frasers Group (FRAS) 712.00p 2.15%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 687.80p 1.87%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 153.80p 1.72%
Entain (ENT) 1,237.50p 1.35%
Associated British Foods (ABF) 1,945.50p 1.04%
Vodafone Group (VOD) 74.14p 0.58%
B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 556.60p 0.58%
Beazley (BEZ) 575.00p 0.52%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 615.00p 0.52%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Spirax-Sarco Engineering (SPX) 10,360.00p -6.79%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 434.90p -5.85%
Croda International (CRDA) 5,370.00p -2.89%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 1,692.50p -2.73%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,764.50p -2.65%
Halma (HLMA) 2,276.00p -2.57%
Anglo American (AAL) 2,484.00p -2.40%
Experian (EXPN) 2,918.00p -2.24%
Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,654.50p -2.19%
Fresnillo (FRES) 654.40p -2.18%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Ferrexpo (FXPO) 94.40p 7.95%
Carnival (CCL) 1,143.50p 3.62%
Currys (CURY) 52.95p 3.52%
Telecom Plus (TEP) 1,586.00p 3.12%
FirstGroup (FGP) 139.60p 2.50%
Mitie Group (MTO) 97.50p 2.42%
Bank of Georgia Group (BGEO) 3,060.00p 2.34%
Petershill Partners (PHLL) 162.60p 1.75%
Chemring Group (CHG) 298.50p 1.53%
Oxford Instruments (OXIG) 2,705.00p 1.50%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Molten Ventures (GROW) 265.20p -7.72%
Me Group International (MEGP) 161.00p -5.85%
Kainos Group (KNOS) 1,337.00p -5.65%
Darktrace (DARK) 331.10p -4.66%
Auction Technology Group (ATG) 741.00p -4.39%
Synthomer (SYNT) 80.05p -4.25%
Helios Towers (HTWS) 95.55p -3.68%
IP Group (IPO) 52.40p -3.68%
Tyman (TYMN) 266.00p -3.45%
TI Fluid Systems (TIFS) 129.80p -3.28%