(Reuters) – London stocks made a gentle comeback on Monday, offering a glimmer of hope to investors eagerly anticipating a week brimming with key economic data, while industrial metal miners bucked the trend.
By 07:12 GMT, the blue-chip edged 0.2% higher at 8,162.29, after it marked its longest weekly losing streak in more than four years last week.
The mid-cap was up 0.2% at 20,152.36.
Both indexes are set to gain after falling for two consecutive sessions.
Investors held back from making big bets, ahead of a spate of domestic key economic data, including the consumer price index (CPI) figures, due through Wednesday and the Bank of England’s policy meeting on Thursday to decide on its interest rates.
Among individual stocks, SSP Group fell 2.8%, after Goldman Sachs downgraded the airport food chain operator’s stock to “Sell” from “Neutral”.
Kingfisher (LON:) Plc was up 0.1%, after the European home improvement group tapped British Land’s Bhavesh Mistry as its next CFO. British Land lost 0.1%.
Industrial metal miners sub-index was the top loser among sectors, after top consumer China reported weaker-than-expected industrial output in May. [MET/L].
