London stocks steady as housebuilders offer support, election in focus

FILE PHOTO: Signage for the London Stock Exchange Group is seen outside of offices in Canary Wharf in London, Britain, August 3, 2023. REUTERS/Toby Melville/File Photo

By Purvi Agarwal and Roshan Abraham

(Reuters) -London's FTSE 100 began the week on a steady note on Monday, supported by housebuilders and precious metal miners, while investors remained cautious ahead of Britain's July 4 election.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 was flat, just snapping a four-session losing streak. The mid-cap FTSE 250 was down 0.3% to 20,222.08 points.

Opinion polls suggest Labour Party leader Keir Starmer is set to replace Conservative Rishi Sunak as prime minister following Thursday's parliamentary elections.

"Markets like stability. The polls suggest that we are not in for any surprise, but it's the kind of change which has been poked, prodded and priced in" said Danni Hewson, head of financial analysis at AJ Bell.

Over the weekend, the first-round voting in France's shock snap election was won by the far right.

Housebuilders led sectoral gains, up 1% after a Nationwide report showed British house prices made a small gain in June from May, but the impact of higher interest rates still weighed on the property market.

Precious metal miners and oil stocks edged up over 1% each, tracking higher gold and oil prices. [GOL/][O/R].

Anglo American slipped 2.8%, and was among top losers on the FTSE 100, after the miner said it had suspended production at its Australian metallurgical coal mine after an underground fire there on Saturday.

(Reporting by Purvi Agarwal, Roshan Abraham and Pranav Kashyap in Bengaluru; Editing by Mrigank Dhaniwala and Alexander Smith)