- Water utility firms rise after Thames Water to receive $960 mln from investors
- Miners under pressure after weak China data
- BT Group down on CEO's plan to step down
- Real estate stocks fall on HSBC's bearish outlook on sector
- Both FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 add 0.1%
July 10 (Reuters) - UK's FTSE 100 edged higher on Monday as gains in energy firms outpaced losses in mining stocks, which fell on lower metal prices after weak Chinese economic data renewed slowing demand concerns.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 was up 0.1%, while the more domestically focussed FTSE 250 midcap index added 0.1%.
Oil major Shell gained 1.1% after Deutsche Bank raised its price target on the stock, while the broader oil and gas sector added 0.9%.
Industrial metal miners lost 1.0%, tracking a fall in most base metal prices.
Top metals consumer China's producer prices fell at their fastest pace in over seven years in June, while consumer prices teetered on the edge of deflation.
"The continued loss of power in the Chinese economy is concerning investors," said Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown.
China-exposed insurer Prudential fell 0.4%.
Precious metal miners also slipped 1.2%.
Britain's biggest water company Thames Water said its investors had agreed to pump 750 million pounds ($960 million) into the firm, weighed down by a debt of 14 billion pounds and feared a government rescue.
Water utility firms United Utilities Group and Severn Trent gained 1.2% each.
A bearish note from HSBC on the UK real estate weighed on the sector, pushing the real estate investment trusts (REITs) and real estate sector down 0.4% each.
Telecoms firm BT Group said it had started the hunt for a new chief executive after incumbent Philip Jansen told the board he planned to step down at "an appropriate moment" within the next year. Its shares were down 0.5%.
UK wages and U.S. inflation data would be some of the key things to look out for this week as investors try to assess the global trajectory of interest rates.
Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey and UK Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt will speak at the annual Mansion House dinner later in the day.
Reporting by Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru; Editing by Dhanya Ann Thoppil and Sohini Goswami
Source: Reuters