(For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock
markets, click LIVE/ or type LIVE/ in a news window)
* UK inflation doubles to 1.5% in April
* Ferguson hits record high after Q3 results
* John Laing tops FTSE 250 as KKR to buy co for $2.84 bln
* FTSE 100 down 1.2%, FTSE 250 off 0.4%
(Updates with market close)
By Shivani Kumaresan and Devik Jain
May 19 (Reuters) - London's FTSE 100 fell on Wednesday,
dragged down by heavyweight commodity stocks, while a
bigger-than-expected jump in inflation stoked fears the central
bank may tighten its monetary policy earlier than expected.
The blue-chip index fell 1.2%, with miners
declining 3.9% after metal prices slipped. Oil
majors BP and Royal Dutch Shell slid more than
1% each.
The domestically focussed mid-cap FTSE 250 index
fell 0.4%.
Official figures showed British consumer price inflation
more than doubled in April to 1.5%. The Bank of England hopes
the surge in inflation will be temporary as the economy recovers
from last year's COVID-19 slump.
A jump in regulated electricity and gas bills, and clothing
and footwear prices pushed up the inflation reading. Prices
charged by manufacturers also rose by 3.9%, while inputs prices
increased by 9.9%, the most since February 2017.
"The UK market is stuck in its range a bit. What will
inspire confidence will be broad reopening in western Europe and
the U.S., North America travel corridor," said Neil Wilson,
chief market analyst at Markets.com.
"You do also want to see the Asian markets pick up too. The
problem for UK is Asian markets weigh on commodities. So the
rise in COVID-19 cases in Asia is worrying."
Globally, stocks slipped and cryptocurrencies sank as the
threat of inflation had investors shy away from assets seen as
vulnerable to any removal of monetary stimulus.
Among individual stocks, Ferguson climbed 2.2% to
hit a record high after the plumbing and heating parts
distributor reported a 65.4% jump in its third-quarter profit.
John Laing Group jumped 11.2% after private-equity
firm KKR agreed to buy the British infrastructure
investor in a deal valued at about 2 billion pounds ($2.84
billion).
Publisher Future gained 10.7% after its first-half
results beat market expectations.
(Reporting by Shivani Kumaresan and Devik Jain in Bengaluru;
Editing by Subhranshu Sahu, Uttaresh.V and Chris Reese)
BP (BP.)
Future (FUTR)
