The British FTSE 100 index hit a more than one-month low on Friday, weighed down by the decline in consumer goods and banking stocks, with the main stock index on track to experience its biggest fall since August 2023 for this week marked by a series of policy decisions from central banks.
The FTSE 100 fell 0.7% at 09:15 GMT, poised for a weekly fall of 3%, with the personal property, banking and defense sub-indexes dropping more than 1%.
The mid-cap FTSE 250 was down 0.6%, to a near one-month low.
The domestic market’s weakness was also in line with its European peers who were beaten down by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s comments on potential tariffs on the European Union.
Wall street futures also took a beating ahead of a crucial report on inflation – core personal consumption spending, with sentiment even weaker in the wake of a government shutdown quickly approaching after the he failure of a Trump-backed spending bill in the U.S. House of Representatives.
However, losses in UK stocks were less intense than those of other counterparties after data showed UK retail sales rose 0.2% in November, which was weaker than expected.
A smaller-than-expected budget deficit also brought some comfort to Finance Minister Rachel Reeves, who has been under pressure after announcing her budget.
The Federal Reserve’s optimistic outlook, which shook global financial markets, and the interest rates maintained by the Bank of England and the Bank of Japan were some of the main events of the week.
At the final monetary policy meetings of the year, Britain, Japan, Norway and Australia maintained their rates, while Switzerland, Europe, Sweden and Canada cut them.
Shares in water companies Severn Trent and United Utilities were the biggest decliners on the FTSE 100, falling more than 2% each, a day after climbing following news of higher bills of water.
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