- FTSE 100 down 0.2%, FTSE 250 up 0.1%
- Precious‑metal miners rise as gold rebounds
- AstraZeneca weighs on healthcare stocks after drug setback
- UK grocery inflation slows; BoE decision on Thursday
Feb 03 (Reuters) - London's FTSE 100 index slipped after hitting a record high on Tuesday, as losses in AstraZeneca shares and energy stocks overpowered gains from miners, with investors cautious ahead of Bank of England's policy meeting later this week.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 index was down 0.2% at 1039 GMT after hitting a record high of 10,373.28 points during the session.
AstraZeneca shares dropped 1.5% after U.S. regulators rejected its bid for an easier‑to‑use version of lupus drug Saphnelo, pushing back the timeline for a possible approval to the first half of 2026.
A selloff in commodity-linked stocks in the last two sessions had weighed on the commodity-heavy FTSE 100 index, as leveraged investors were forced to unwind their speculative bets in a slide that began after Kevin Warsh, a policy hawk, was nominated as the next U.S. Federal Reserve chair.
Endeavour Mining and Fresnillo are among the top gainers on the benchmark index, up 5% and 4.3%, respectively, as gold staged its biggest one‑day rally since 2008 following a two‑session rout.
The precious‑metal miners index climbed 4.5%, snapping a three‑day losing streak.
Other London-listed miners also rose, with gains in Anglo American and Antofagasta up 4% and 3.5% respectively, as copper also gained after supply concerns and demand prospects offered support to the red metal.
Energy stocks Shell and BP fell 1.5% and 1.7%, respectively, tracking a 1% decline in oil prices, the second straight drop as market participants weighed the possibility of a de‑escalation in U.S.-Iran tensions.
The domestically focused mid-cap index FTSE 250 was up 0.1%.
Meanwhile, in a busy week of global central bank meetings, the BoE is expected to keep its benchmark borrowing costs unchanged at 3.75% on Thursday.
Separately, UK grocery inflation eased to 4.0% in the four weeks to January 25, its lowest since April, data from market researcher Worldpanel by Numerator showed, offering some relief to shoppers at a time when the BoE is keeping a close eye on food prices for signals on broader inflation pressures.
Reporting by Tharuniyaa Lakshmi in Bengaluru; Editing by Harikrishnan Nair
Source: Reuters