(Reuters) -London stocks slipped on Thursday as a raging conflict in the Middle East kept investors on edge ahead of the Bank of England’s monetary policy decision.
The benchmark FTSE 100 was down 0.3% as of 0939 GMT, just about 1% away from its intraday record high.
Trading is expected to be thin as U.S. markets are shut for a public holiday.
Israel and Iran’s aerial attacks continued as U.S. President Donald Trump kept the world guessing about whether the U.S. would join Israel in air strikes on Tehran.
Trump said that Iranian representatives wanted to meet in Washington, while European Union ministers will hold talks with them on Friday, with markets hoping for a de-escalation in hostilities.
The conflict has impacted oil prices, which were higher on the day, boosting the energy sector by 1.2%.
Gains in heavyweight Shell and BP limited declines on the commodity-heavy FTSE 100.
Personal goods and automobile stocks down 3.4% and 2.1%, respectively, led broader declines.
Investor attention was on the Bank of England’s monetary policy decision, where it is widely expected to keep rates on hold.
This follows a meeting of the U.S. Federal Reserve, where Chair Jerome Powell said he expected “meaningful” inflation ahead, due to Trump’s planned tariffs, but policymakers still kept two rate cuts in 2025 on the table, offering little clarity on the overall stance.
Among stocks, Persimmon and United Utilities were at the bottom of the FTSE 100, down 3.5% and 3.1%, respectively, as they traded without entitlement to their latest dividend payouts.
Whitbread fell 2.1% after the Premier Inn owner reported another quarterly sales decline.
Midcaps in London fell 0.7%. Hays dragged with a 12.5% loss after it warned of an annual profit miss due to sluggish hiring.
Revolution Beauty plunged 22% after billionaire Mike Ashley’s Frasers pulled out of the takeover bid for the cosmetics company.
(Reporting by Purvi Agarwal in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala)
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