UK's FTSE 100 falls ahead of BoE rate decision

UK's export-driven FTSE 100 fell on Thursday, dragged down by banks and energy firms, while traders avoided bets on risky assets ahead of the Bank of England's monetary policy decision. The blue-chip FTSE 100 fell 0.5%, while the FTSE 250 shed 0.7% by 0812 GMT.

UK's export-driven FTSE 100 fell on Thursday, dragged down by banks and energy firms, while traders avoided bets on risky assets ahead of the Bank of England's monetary policy decision.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 fell 0.5%, while the FTSE 250 shed 0.7% by 0812 GMT. The BoE is expected to announce a rate hike of 50 basis points at 1200 GMT.

Energy stocks fell 0.5% as crude prices slid after the U.S. Federal Reserve said it would continue raising interest rates, while disappointing Chinese factory data piled onto demand worries. Banks fell 1.1%, bogged down by a 1.5% drop in HSBC after a few Hong Kong-based investors sought support for a resolution, at the lender's 2023 annual meeting, to restore the bank's pre-pandemic dividend and spin off assets.

Among bright spots, British American Tobacco climbed 0.6% on Swiss media reports of the closure of a cigarette manufacturing plant in Switzerland next year.