London stocks dip as markets watch Ukraine peace talks

Britain’s main stock indexes edged lower on Monday as investors took a cautious stance ahead of a U.S.-brokered peace meeting in Ukraine. The blue-chip FTSE 100 index slipped 0.1% to around 7,476 points by late morning, giving up part of Friday’s record high.

Similarly, the mid-cap FTSE 250 fell about 0.1% as banking and insurer shares were among the laggards . Traders said markets were reacting to news that U.S. President Donald Trump told Ukraine to abandon aspirations to regain Crimea or join NATO before his meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy and other leaders .

Energy stocks bore early pressure, with the oil sector down roughly 0.6% as market participants parsed mixed signals on Russian oil sanctions . Financials also underperformed: indices for UK life insurers and banks fell about 1% and 0.4% respectively . In contrast, defensive sectors such as healthcare and utilities saw modest gains of around 0.5%-0.6% as investors sought safety.

Data showed that summer housing indicators were soft: Rightmove reported that asking prices for newly advertised UK homes fell by 1.3% in the four weeks to mid-August, while July sales hit their highest level for the time of year since 2020 . This helped lift homebuilder stocks around 0.9%. With this week’s focus on the Jackson Hole symposium in Kansas City and a policy speech from Fed Chair Jerome Powell on Friday, market participants remained on edge about future monetary policy.

Investors noted the Bank of England’s dovish rate cut earlier in August, and many expect more rate reductions ahead. “The UK consumer inflation data coming later this week could also spur volatility,” one analyst said. Overall, trading remained subdued as the FTSE indexes tracked global cues.