- FTSE 100 down 0.9%, FTMC down 0.8%
- Tesco falls on weak Q1 sales growth
- Intertek up after agreeing EQT takeover
- BoE holds rate steady as expected
June 18 (Reuters) - UK's main stock indexes retreated on Thursday, pressured by miners and financials, after the Bank of England held steady on interest rates, while the Federal Reserve's hawkish stance also weighed on sentiment.
The BoE kept rates on hold at 3.75% as widely expected, with only two of the nine member committee voting in favour of a rate hike amid persistent inflation concerns.
The U.S. Federal Reserve kept rates unchanged on Wednesday, though nine Fed policymakers projected a rate hike this year.
"The conditions don’t seem in place for sustained inflationary pressure. So we think the BoE will be able to avoid the kind of monetary tightening that the European Central Bank has already started to deliver and that the Fed hinted at last night," said Luke Bartholomew, deputy chief economist, at Aberdeen.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 index fell 0.87% to 10,416.89 points by 1345 GMT, while the midcap FTSE 250 slipped 0.8%.
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Precious metal miners declined the most, as gold and silver prices eased. Fresnillo and Hocschild Mining fell 6% and 8%, respectively.
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London Stock Exchange fell 5.8% after Rothschild Redburn downgraded the stock to "neutral", while investment firm 3i Group declined 4%.
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Rate-sensitive homebuilders shed 2.4%, with Persimmon falling 6.2%, among the worst performers on the benchmark.
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Heavyweight banks were least impacted, with HSBC and Barclays down marginally at 0.2% each.
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UK's biggest food retailer Tesco slipped 1.6% after reporting a slowdown in first-quarter sales growth.
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Intertek gained 1.5% after the testing and certification firm agreed to a takeover by Swedish private equity firm EQT
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The world's largest exhibition group Informa was the top performer on FTSE 100, rising 2.5% after forecasting stronger growth in 2027.
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Oil giants BP and Shell declined 1.6% each, as oil prices reached to their lowest since start of Iran war.
Reporting by Utkarsh Hathi in Bengaluru, Additional reporting by Sophie Kiderlin in London; Editing by Tasim Zahid
Source: Reuters