London markets stabilise amid global jitters over Fed autonomy
(Reuters) -London stocks were flat on Wednesday, stabilising a day after flaring concerns around the U.S. Federal Reserve’s independence hit risk assets worldwide.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 held steady at 9269.3 points by 1009 GMT, coming off a 0.6% fall on Tuesday after U.S. President Donald Trump said he was firing Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook.
Cook’s lawyer responded that the Fed governor will file a lawsuit to prevent Trump from firing her.
Tuesday’s fall snapped a five-day winning streak for the index.
UK’s blue-chip index hit a record high last week, when global markets got a lift after Fed Chair Jerome Powell signalled a possible interest rate cut at the Fed’s September meeting.
Personal goods led gains among the major FTSE sub-sectors on Wednesday with a 1.3% increase, followed by a 1.1% gain in utilities.
Heavyweight banks were down 1%, falling for the second straight day, while top pharmaceutical companies rose 0.7%.
The FTSE 250 midcap index, which sits more than 11% away from its all-time high in September 2021, inched 0.1% down.
Hochschild Mining slumped 15.9% to the bottom of the midcap index after the miner slashed full-year production forecast for its Mara Rosa mine by more than half.
Among other moving stocks, JD Sports Fashion gained 2.1% after the sportswear retailer showed signs of stabilisation in its key U.S. market after a sharp decline in the previous quarter.
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Insurer Prudential unveiled a $1.1 billion share buyback plan and signalled higher dividends over the next two years after posting a 12% rise in first-half new business profit. Its shares, however, were down 0.9%, shedding initial gains.
Global investor focus would be on U.S. tech giant Nvidia’s quarterly earnings due later in the day.
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