The FTSE 100 index of large-cap businesses closed down 0.13pc today. The biggest riser was JD Sports, up 3.38pc, followed by Rolls-Royce, up 2.38pc. The biggest faller was Glencore, down 3.96pc, followed by Centrica (owner of British Gas), down 3.81pc.
Meanwhile, the FTSE 250 index of mid-cap stocks was up 0.26pc. Watches of Switzerland was the biggest riser, up 6.8pc, while Baltic Classifieds (online classifieds group from Lithuania) rose 3.98pc. The biggest drop was experienced by telecoms tower company Helios Tower, down 5.2pc, followed by magazine publisher Future, down 3.41pc.
Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CMC Markets UK, said:
It’s been a relatively subdued start to what is set to be a busy week of central bank rate meetings with the FTSE100 underperforming on the back of weakness in the basic resource sector …
Concerns over weak demand are weighing on the likes of Glencore, Rio Tinto and the rest of the mining sector, as iron ore prices decline. Anglo American shares are seeing a bit of a rebound after the big falls of last week prompted some takeover speculation …
Rolls-Royce is the best performer due to another broker upgrade, this time from Citi which lifted their price target to 431p, which is pretty punchy when we haven’t yet broken above the 300p level yet.