London stocks start week with caution as key economic data looms

British equities started the week on a cautious note, as investors braced for crucial U.S. and UK economic data, while a rise in industrial metal miners limited losses.

The commodity-centric FTSE 100 declined 0.1% by 7:11 GMT. The domestically-inclined FTSE 250 was flat. Leading sectoral gains, industrial metal miners added 0.8% as Shanghai copper prices jumped to a record high following supply cuts and positive demand prospects.

Investor look forward to the U.S. consumer price inflation data due on Wednesday and Britain's GDP figures on Friday. The European Central Bank is broadly expected to keep interest rates on hold in its monetary policy meeting later in the week. Among individual stocks, CVS Group fell by 1% after the veterinary services provider recently identified unauthorised external access to a limited number of its IT systems, resulting in a disruption to its UK operations.

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