By Shashwat Chauhan and Khushi Singh
(Reuters) – British stocks edged higher on Monday as firmer commodity prices supported the energy and mining sectors, but beverage-related shares fell on Dutch firm Heineken’s dour outlook.
The exporter-heavy FTSE 100 closed up 0.1%, logging a monthly gain of over 2% in July as risk sentiment flourished after data earlier this month showed domestic inflation eased more than expected.
Heavyweight energy stocks gained 1.3% on higher oil prices and after the UK government announced plans to grant more than 100 new oil and gas licences in North Sea. [O/R]
Industrial metal miners rose 0.9% as prices of most base metals advanced. [MET/L]
UK’s beverages index fell 1.2% after Heineken, the world’s second-largest brewer by volume, cut its 2023 profit growth forecast.
The Bank of England is widely expected to raise rates by a quarter-point to 5.25% on Thursday, though economists and markets see a risk of a repeat of June’s surprise half-point hike.
“In our view, the BoE is in a more difficult place as inflation is likely to stay higher for longer in the UK. A number of UK specific factors (Brexit, open economy, tightness of the labour market) bode negatively for UK inflation,” Jefferies economist Mohit Kumar wrote in a note.
British Airways-owner ICAG was the biggest gainer on the FTSE 100 index, up 3.6%, after two brokerages raised their price target.
Telecom company BT Group slipped 1.7% after naming Allison Kirkby, a board member and president and CEO of Sweden’s Telia Company, as its next CEO.
The more domestically focussed FTSE 250 midcap index added 0.1%.
Dr Martens advanced 4.4% on a report that activist investor Sparta Capital has accumulated stock worth tens of millions of pounds in the British bootmaker.
Marshalls slipped 2.8% after flagging that a recovery in market conditions was unlikely in the second half of the year.
(Reporting by Shashwat Chauhan and Khushi Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Varun H K, Sonia Cheema and Richard Chang)
