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(Sharecast News) - UK stocks ended slightly lower with miners and oil firms pacing losses amid U.S. dollar strength heading into a week of potentially market moving economic data.
Not least among those reports would be Friday's non-farm payrolls report in the States.
Against that backdrop, some analysts expressed caution when it came to the outlook for commodity prices.
"As 2024 wears on, we expect a substantial deterioration in mature-economy growth, as rising debt service burdens and the lagged impact of tightening financial conditions look set to drive developed markets into recession during 2024," analysts at Citi said in a research note sent to clients.
"We are neutral to bearish on Energy (Oil and Gas) for 2024, as the recent moves by OPEC+ we think are a decent stop gap but not enough unless they are extended through 2024 as a whole, which probably only happens if prices fall to place some pressure on the group."
Copper futures on COMEX gave back 2.63% to end the session at $3.8210/lb., alongside a 1.995 drop for gold futures to $2,048.20/oz..
Front-dated Brent crude oil meanwhile slipped 0.65% to $78.23 a barrel on the ICE.
The yield on the benchmark 2-year Gilt meanwhile added nine basis points to 4.615%, mimicking moves on similarly-dated U.S. Treasury notes on the other side of the Pond.
Asia-focused Burberrys dragged on the Personal Goods sector.
Going the other way it was nearly all about defensives, with the exception of Retail names which benefitted from news that Mike Ashley's Frasers Group had increased its stake in fast-fashion retailer Boohoo again.
Top performing sectors so far today
Retailers 3,590.98 +1.04%
Personal Care, Drug and Grocery Stores 3,970.18 +0.76%
Pharmaceuticals & Biotechnology 19,924.11 +0.74%
Tobacco 28,400.88 +0.66%
Food Producers 7,264.33 +0.31%
Bottom performing sectors so far today
Industrial Metals & Mining 6,568.86 -3.02%
Personal Goods 21,915.27 -1.97%
Leisure Goods 25,591.46 -1.72%
Oil, Gas and Coal 8,511.12 -1.28%
Automobiles & Parts 1,496.07 -1.01%
