London stocks fall as China stimulus boost fades

(Reuters) - UK shares slipped on Wednesday, retracing gains from the previous session, as investors questioned whether the optimism over extensive stimulus measures in China was overdone.

At 0715 GMT, the blue-chip FTSE 100 was down 0.3%.

It rose 0.3% in the previous session, amid a global rally after China released their biggest raft of stimulus measures since the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, the optimism faded as market watchers questioned whether the scope of proposed measures was extensive enough to fix deep-rooted issues in China and spark a sustained resurgence in consumer and industrial demand.

Even China's central bank reducing its medium-term loan rate on Wednesday did little to lift sentiment again.

"Monetary policy remains unlikely to move the needle on Chinese growth ... the Chinese economy needs fiscal stimulus and monetary policy alone isn't sufficient to revive domestic demand," analysts at BCA Research said in a note.

The pullback in UK equities was broad, with the beverage sector's near 1% drop leading declines.

The banking and life insurance sectors lost about 0.8% each.

An index of oil and gas stocks dipped 0.3% as crude prices declined.

However, industrial miners and precious metal miners built on gains from the prior session, rising 1% and 0.7%, respectively, as prices of copper and gold continued to rise.

The more domestically focused mid-cap index was flat, with financial shares keeping a lid on gains.



Among other single movers, real estate portal Rightmove (OTC:RTMVY ) lost 0.5% after rejecting a sweetened $8.1 billion takeover proposal from Australia's REA Group, saying the increased bid was still "unattractive".

Retailer DFS Furniture also dipped 0.5% after posting a 65.7% slump in annual profit.

Source: Investing.com