London's FTSE 100 steadies after four-day slide; inflation data boosts rate cut bets
19/11/2025 13:40
For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock markets, click LIVE/ or type LIVE/ in a news window FTSE 100, FTSE 250 nearly flat UK consumer price inflation eases to 3.6% in October WH Smith gains after CEO exits Nov 19 (Reuters) - London's FTSE 100 was little changed on Wednesday, after falling for four consecutive sessions, as gains in healthcare and consumer staples kept the market afloat, while a slowdown in inflation lifted hopes for a December rate cut. The blue-chip index .FTSE was down 0.07% as of 12:40 GMT, while the mid-cap FTSE 250 index .FTMC was up 0.07%. UK inflation slowed down for the first time in October since May, offering relief to the government before next week's annual budget and boosting the chance of a rate cut by the Bank of England. Markets are pricing in about 86% odds of a quarter-point reduction in December. "MPC officials will, of course, still be glued to the details of next week's Autumn Budget, but assuming it's as tax-heavy and unfriendly to growth as we expect, a December rate cut seems to be a fairly safe bet," said Matthew Ryan, head of Market Strategy at global financial services firm Ebury. Supporting this outlook, a Reuters poll showed a majority of economists now expect a rate cut in December and again early next year. Consumer-related stocks such as Unilever ULVR.L and British American Tobacco BATS.L contributed to FTSE 100's rise, with both gaining about 1%. Heavyweight AstraZeneca AZN.L was up 0.8% and the broader pharma sector .FTNMX404010 advanced 0.5%. Industrial metal miners .FTNMX551020 were up 0.3%, while precious metal miners .FTNMX551030 gained 4.7% after gold prices climbed over 1% on risk aversion ahead of key U.S. data. GOL/ In UK markets, banking stocks .FTNMX301010 dropped 0.4%, on track for a fifth consecutive session of decline. Aerospace and defence stocks .FTNMX502010 were down 2% with BAE Systems BAES.L and Rolls-Royce RR.L falling 2.6% and 0.8%, respectively. Household goods and construction sector .FTNMX402020 fell 0.7%. Data from the government showed that house prices had the smallest annual rise in September since May. Among individual movers, WH Smith SMWH.L gained 5.2% after the travel retailer said Carl Cowling had stepped down as CEO following an independent review, which revealed accounting failures in the U.S. operations. Sage's SGE.L shares climbed 3.3% after the software company reported better-than-expected annual operating profit. (Reporting by Utkarsh Tushar Hathi; Additional reporting by Rashika Singh; Editing by Shreya Biswas) ((utkarshtushar.hathi@thomsonreuters.com))