UK's FTSE 100 hits three-week low after strong pay data; Bunzl slumps (updated)

Goodwin

17/12/2024 17:12

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        * 
      FTSE 100 down 0.8%, FTSE 250 down 1.3%
    

        * 
      UK pay growth speeds up, adding to worries for BoE
    

        * 
      Chemring Group drops on lower FY profit
    

        * 
      Goodwin soars on H1 profit surge
    

  
 (Updated at market close)
       Dec 17 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 dropped to a
three-week low on Tuesday after domestic data showing strong
wage growth prompted investors to pare bets on Bank of England
(BoE) interest rate cuts next year.
    The blue-chip index  .FTSE  ended down 0.8%, while the
mid-cap FTSE 250  .FTMC  lost 1.3%, its biggest one-day
percentage fall in five weeks.
    Bunzl  BNZL.L  was the worst-hit stock on the FTSE 100, down
5.7% after the business supplies distributor said that low
prices, especially in continental Europe, would have a "slight
impact" on its annual profit. The losses weighed on the general
industrial sub-index  .FTNMX502030 , which was down 2.3%.
    Official data showed British pay rose by more than expected
in the three months to October, prompting investors to rein in
rate cut bets for next year, lifting sterling and boosting
domestic government bond yields.
    The BoE is widely expected to hold rates steady this week, a
day after the U.S. Federal Reserve announces its own policy
decision, likely delivering a quarter-point rate cut.
    In 2025, traders expect the BoE to cut rates by around 70
basis points, roughly in line with the scale of cuts from the
Fed.
    British inflation prints on Wednesday will shed further
light on the BoE's interest rate trajectory. 
    The construction and materials index  .FTNMX501010  led
sectoral losses, with a 2.4% decline. Energy companies
 .FTNMX601010  lost 1.7%, tracking a fall in oil prices as
Chinese economic data renewed demand concerns.  O/R  
    Chemring Group  CHG.L  dropped 13% to the bottom of the
mid-cap index after posting lower annual underlying pretax
profit. The losses weighed on aerospace and defence stocks
 .FTNMX502010 , down 1.4%.
    Hollywood Bowl Group  BOWL.L  fell 11.5% after Britain's
largest ten-pin bowling operator posted lower annual adjusted
pretax profit.
    In contrast, Goodwin  GDWN.L  jumped 6.8% after the
mechanical engineering firm posted a surge in first-half pretax
profit.

 (Reporting by Ankika Biswas and Sukriti Gupta in Bengaluru.
Editing by Sonia Cheema and Mark Potter)
 ((Ankika.Biswas@thomsonreuters.com;))
 
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