The FTSE 100 opened lower in Monday trading with profit-taking after last week’s record in London exacerbated by the gold price dropping, knocking the miners.
London’s blue-chip index was down 33 points at 7,962 with oil groups BP and Shell under pressure after oil prices eased back after spiking on Iran’s missile attack on Israel.
Recruiter PageGroup turned lower as it warned firms are not converting final interviews into job offers and trading is slowing as a result. The UK is seeing no sign of an upturn it added.
Car dealer Inchcape meanwhile is to sell its UK Retail operations to Group 1 Automotive for a cash consideration of approximately £346 million. Around £100 million will be handed to shareholders via a buyback.
B&Q owner Kingfisher is seeing some board changes with Andrew Cosslett stepping down as chair after seven years in the role. Cosslett will be succeeded by Claudia Arney, who has been a non-exec since 2018.