London's stock markets edged lower on Monday following a strong performance in November, with losses in homebuilders and precious metal miners dragging down the indexes.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 slipped 0.1%, while the mid-cap FTSE 250 dropped 0.2% as of 0950 GMT. Despite the decline, both indexes outperformed their European counterparts, which were hit by political unrest in France.
Precious metal miners fell by 1.4% after a 1% decline in gold prices, pressured by a stronger dollar and profit-taking activity.
In the homebuilding sector, Vistry Group and Persimmon led losses on the FTSE 100, both dropping 3.5%. The decline followed a downgrade by RBC, which cut its rating on the stocks from "perform" to "underperform." The broader homebuilders' index shed 1.5%.
Despite the losses, data from mortgage lender Nationwide offered some positive news, showing British house prices in November rising at their fastest annual pace since November 2022. This highlighted continued resilience in the property sector, even amid higher borrowing costs.
On the upside, the personal goods sector emerged as the top performer, gaining 1.4%.
Among individual stocks, Topps Tiles saw a marginal dip of 0.3%, recovering from steeper losses earlier in the session. This came after MS Galleon, the company's largest shareholder, called for a management overhaul and strategic shift, criticizing the firm's failure to adapt to evolving retail dynamics. In response, Topps Tiles defended its strategy, emphasizing its focus on expanding online operations, which has the board's full backing.
Economic data provided mixed signals. The S&P Global Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for UK manufacturing fell to 48.0 in November, below the preliminary estimate of 48.6, pointing to continued contraction in the sector.
Investors are now turning their attention to remarks from Bank of England (BoE) officials Nathanael Benjamin and Lee Foulger, scheduled for 1200 GMT, as they discuss the central bank's half-yearly financial stability report. Markets are also awaiting insights from BoE Governor Andrew Bailey on Wednesday, hoping for clues about the bank's future monetary policy direction. Photo by Kaihsu Tai, Wikimedia commons.