- Barclays jumps on overhaul plans
- Mobico Group drops on delay in publishing 2023 results
- FTSE 100 flat, FTSE 250 off 0.2%
Feb 20 (Reuters) - The UK's FTSE 100 was little changed in early trading on Tuesday as losses in base metal miners due to weaker copper prices offset gains in Barclays after the British lender laid out plans to overhaul its business.
The FTSE 100 index held its ground at 7,729.86 points as of 0908 GMT.
Industrial miners dropped 2.2%, as copper prices traded lower against a firm dollar, while traders weighed demand prospects in top consumer China as it comes off the Lunar New Year break.
Antofagasta fell 1.6% despite reporting a 5% rise in 2023 profit, with the Chilean miner slashing its full-year dividend and reporting an increase in capital expenditure.
Barclays jumped 4.6% to the top of the blue-chip FTSE 100 index, powering a 1% rise in the banking index.
The lender unveiled plans including bumper buybacks, an overhaul of its operations, cost cuts and asset sales to improve performance and lift shares.
While expectations of early interest rate cuts from global central banks, including the Bank of England, buoyed equities last week, a reassessment of those bets following hotter inflation data from the U.S. have weighed on sentiment.
Goldman Sachs said it now expected the Bank of England to deliver an interest rate cut in June, compared with its prior forecast of May.
"We're seeing that inflation is going down according to seasonal trends, but it's not yet close to the target. The BoE is going to be a little bit more conservative to make sure that they don't cut too fast, having the opposite effect on inflation," said Anthi Tsouvali, multi-asset strategist at State Street Global Markets.
Meanwhile, the mid-cap FTSE 250 shed 0.2%, led by a 11.2% drop in Mobico Group's shares as the public transport firm said it would delay publishing its 2023 results.
Among other movers, InterContinental Hotels Group gained 2.4% after the Holiday Inn owner said it expected to return more than $1 billion to shareholders in 2024.
Reporting by Shristi Achar A in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich and Saumyadeb Chakrabarty
Source: Reuters