London stocks round off week with declines

FILE PHOTO: The London Stock Exchange Group offices are seen in the City of London, Britain, December 29, 2017. REUTERS/Toby Melville/File Photo

By Purvi Agarwal and Shubham Batra

(Reuters) -British equities ended the week on a sour note after stronger-than-expected GDP data spurred worries over interest rate cuts by the Bank of England, while U.S. inflation reading for May boosted market sentiment.

The FTSE 100 slid 0.2% to logged its first monthly decline in four. However, the index was up for a fourth consecutive quarter.

The midcap FTSE 250 index was also down 0.2%, logging weekly and monthly losses.

Britain's economy grew 0.7% in the first three months of this year, compared with the previous quarter, and came in above an estimate of 0.6% growth, official figures showed.

The figures came in as Britons are set to vote on July 4 in a parliamentary election, which opinion polls suggest will see Labour Party leader Keir Starmer replace Conservative Rishi Sunak as prime minister.

The personal goods sector led the declines, falling 2.4% as Telsey Advisory Group cut target price on Burberry to 1000p from 1300p.

Energy shares led the sectoral gains with 0.7% as expectations of a rate cut by the U.S. Fed buoyed oil prices, while Real Estate Investment Trusts rose 0.5%.

In the U.S., the personal consumption expenditure numbers showed inflation moderating in line with expectations, strengthening hopes for early interest rate cuts this year.

Shares of sportswear brand JD Sports Fashion sank 5.4% and slipped to the bottom of the FTSE 100 after Nike forecast a surprise revenue fall in 2025 on Thursday.

(Reporting by Purvi Agarwal and Pranav Kashyap in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Alison Williams)