London stocks fell on Monday, driven by a snap election called by French President Emmanuel Macron and anticipation of key domestic economic data. The FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 both declined 0.3%. Market experts believe the reaction to the French election is temporary, with focus shifting back to economic indicators like unemployment and wage data.
London stocks fell on Monday as investors were spooked by a snap election called by French President Emmanuel Macron, while they awaited key domestic economic data this week.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 fell below the 8,200 mark in early trade, and was last at 8,217.04 points, down 0.3%. The mid-cap FTSE 250 fell 0.3%. Both the indexes were poised to log a second straight session of losses.
"The snap election in France caused a knee jerk reaction, but it isn't going to be massive weight on the index," Christopher Peters, trading floor manager at Accendo Markets said. "Once the dust settles, investors will go back to key metrics and triggers for inflation. The unemployment rate in the wage data tomorrow is key."
Traders were still reeling from the impact of Friday's blow-out U.S. jobs report, which dampened hopes for a September rate cut by the Federal Reserve. Analysts expect the Bank of England (BoE) to move independently from the Fed and cut rates, but will monitor local data closely.
Britain's wages and GDP data is set to be released this week. The BoE meets in less than two weeks to take a call on borrowing costs.
Among individual stocks, ME Group International fell 5.8% after the instant-service equipment group said its full-year profitability was in line with expectations. Aviva Plc was among top losers on the FTSE 100 with a 1.8% drop after JP Morgan downgraded its rating on the stock to "neutral" from "overweight" and removed it from its analyst focus list.
On the flip side, M&G Plc gained 1.6% after JP Morgan upgraded its rating to "overweight" from "neutral".
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