London’s FTSE 100 fell on Tuesday after ending the previous session unchanged as investors remained cautious ahead of a general election in their country, while a rise in oil prices helped contain declines.
The FTSE 100 lost 0.5%, hitting its lowest level in more than two weeks, while the FTSE 250 was down 0.3% by 0715 GMT.
Investors have been holding back from placing big bets ahead of Thursday’s British parliamentary elections, where the Conservatives appear set to be replaced after 14 years.
Meanwhile, prices in British shops rose at the slowest pace in almost three years last month, according to industry figures that underline how inflation has cooled.
The latest key inflation measure showed May inflation fell to the Bank of England’s 2% target for the first time in nearly three years. However, investors do not expect that to help Prime Minister Rishi Sunak in the election.
GSK slid 1.2% after a Delaware judge rejected a request by the drugmaker and others to appeal a ruling allowing more than 70,000 lawsuits claiming that the heartburn drug Zantac caused cancer to go forward.
Sainsbury’s, Britain’s second-largest supermarket group, slid 1.5% after maintaining its full-year financial forecast and reporting a 3% rise in underlying sales in the first quarter.
The stock weighed on the personal care, drug and grocery sector, which fell 1.3%.
Energy stocks were the best performers after oil prices held near two-month highs on expectations of higher fuel demand from the summer travel season and possible U.S. interest rate cuts.
Oil giant BP gained more than 1%.
A report on job openings is due in the US later in the day, along with a speech by Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell. (Reporting by Purvi Agarwal in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)
