June 18 (Reuters) - Britain's main stock indexes fell on Thursday, pressured by financials and materials as investors awaited the Bank of England's rate decision and assessed the Federal Reserve's hawkish policy outlook.
The BoE is widely expected to hold rates at 3.75% later this morning, after the U.S. Federal Reserve kept rates unchanged on Wednesday. However, nine Fed policymakers expect a rate hike this year as inflation concerns continue to weigh on consumers.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 index fell
0.94% to 10,410.01 points by 10:16 GMT, while the midcap FTSE 250 slipped 0.63%.
• Among financials, London Stock Exchange fell 3.5% after Rothschild Redburn downgraded the stock to "neutral", while investment firm 3i Group declined 4.3%.
• Precious metal miners led sectoral losses, falling 5%, with Fresnillo and Hocschild Mining down 5.8% and 7%, respectively.
• UK's biggest food retailer Tesco slipped 2.2% after reporting a slowdown in first-quarter sales growth.
• Rate-sensitive homebuilders shed 2.6%, with Persimmon falling 6.4%, the worst performer on the benchmark.
• Intertek gained 1.5% after the testing and certification firm agreed to a takeover by Swedish private equity firm EQT
• The world's largest exhibition group Informa was the top performer on FTSE 100, rising 2.3% after forecasting stronger growth in 2027.
• Oil giants BP and Shell declined 1.5% each, as oil prices reached to their lowest since start of Iran war. [O/R]
(Reporting by Utkarsh Hathi in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid)
