- Antofagasta shares drop after company cuts 2026 copper output forecast
- FTSE 100 falls 0.6%, lowest since July 27
- Britain's economy grows 0.3% in June after being flat in May, data shows
Aug 13 (Reuters) - London's FTSE 100 fell to a more than two-week low on Thursday after Antofagasta's downbeat copper production forecast sparked losses in the mining sector and offset any relief from stronger-than-expected economic growth in June.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 index closed 0.6% down at 10,772.67 points — dropping for a fourth consecutive day and touching its lowest since July 27. The mid-cap FTSE 250 climbed 0.1% to 24,837.71 points.
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Britain's economy unexpectedly grew in June as companies enjoyed a respite from the energy price surge caused by the Iran war, the start of the men's soccer World Cup and hot weather, official data showed.
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Gross domestic product rose by 0.3% in June, putting Britain on course for the strongest growth among the Group of Seven rich economies in the first half of 2026, after being flat in May. The pound , though, was largely unchanged against the dollar as the data did little to change near-term interest rate expectations.
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"This is not a boom though, and quarterly growth has slowed from 0.6%, but Britain is proving significantly harder to knock off course than many feared," said Sam North, market analyst for eToro.
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Antofagasta shares fell 6.8% after the company cut its 2026 copper output forecast due to a shutdown at its Los Pelambres mine in July. Shares of other miners Rio Tinto and Anglo American dropped 4.8% and 3.5%, respectively.
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The FTSE 350 indexes of industrial metal miners and precious metal miners fell more than 3% each as metal prices lost steam against a firmer dollar.
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A tame U.S. inflation reading on Wednesday dented expectations of an interest rate hike from the Federal Reserve next month. Yet, a lack of progress to permanently end the Middle East conflict kept oil prices from further decline amid investors' assessments of prospects for weaker global demand and higher U.S. crude stocks.
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Among mid-cap stocks, Costain gained 4.6% after the infrastructure solutions firm issued upbeat half-yearly results.
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British property firm Savills surged 10.9% as it posted a 47% rise in half-year underlying profit, strengthened by an improvement in its North American and transactional businesses.
Reporting by Anand Gopal and Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel and Andrea Ricci
Source: Reuters