By Pranav Kashyap and Purvi Agarwal
(Reuters) -London’s blue-chip stocks dropped on Wednesday for the six straight session as traders pared back bets on the timing of Federal Reserve interest rate cuts, while Anglo American fell after Australian resources giant BHP Group walked away from its $49 billion takeover pursuit.
Anglo shares fell 3.0%. Earlier in the day Anglo rejected BHP’s last-ditch request for more time to discuss a takeover offer, dismissing it as highly complex.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 closed 0.9% lower, in its longest losing streak since August 2023.
Meanwhile, the mid-cap FTSE 250 also ended 1.3% lower, logging its worst day in over a month.
U.S. Treasury yields rose after data showed a sharp improvement in U.S. consumer confidence measure for May that prompted investors to lower their bets on a rate cut in September.
“The rise in yields reflects sticky inflation concerns and higher interest rate expectations after stronger-than-expected U.S. consumer confidence data yesterday and hawkish commentary from Federal Reserve officials,” said Fiona Cincotta, senior market analyst at City Index, in a note.
The two-year UK gilt yield rose to its highest since February 2023 at 4.57% in the session, while the yield on the benchmark 10-year gilt rose to 4.37%, in their fifth session of gains.
Broader declines in the market were led by the automobile and parts sector that dropped 3.5%, partially erasing its gain from the previous session.
Precious and industrial metal miners lost 2.2% and 1.9% respectively, tracking a decline in gold and copper prices. [GOL/] [MET/L]
On the brighter side, energy shares led gains extending their winning streak to a fourth session with a 0.6% rise, in tandem with oil prices. [O/R]
Later in the week markets will look to the Fed’s preferred inflation gauge – the Personal Consumption Expenditures (PCE) price index data and the Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey’s speech.
Among stocks, International Distributions Services jumped 4.3% after the Royal Mail owner agreed to a 3.57-billion-pound ($4.55 billion) takeover offer by Czech billionaire Daniel Kretinsky.
Online grocer Ocado dropped 12.3% to the bottom of FTSE 100 index as index provider LSEG said it could be moved to the mid-cap FTSE 250 from the blue chip index.
(Reporting by Pranav Kashyap and Purvi Agarwal in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips, Janane Venkatraman and Nick Zieminski)
