LONDON, June 18, 2026, 18:08 (BST)
- FTSE 100 finished down 1.04% at 10,399.70. The FTSE 250 dropped roughly 0.1%.
- Shares of London Stock Exchange Group dropped 7%. Precious-metals miners were the weakest sector. Informa rose 2.5%.
- Bank of England kept Bank Rate unchanged at 3.75% on a 7-2 split, just a few hours after the Federal Reserve hinted at the chance of more US rate hikes.
FTSE 100 drops below 10,400 as miners, tech slide after Bank of England holds rates Britain’s blue-chip FTSE 100 index tumbled Thursday, giving up all of Wednesday’s 0.14% rise after weaker mining and tech shares pulled the market lower, even as the Bank of England held borrowing costs. The FTSE 100 fell back under 10,400.
Fed’s timing grabbed attention. On Wednesday, the central bank held its target rate between 3.5% and 3.75%. Still, nine policymakers signaled rates could climb before year-end. That hawkish tilt pushed down demand for shares that react most to rates and for growth stocks.
Bank of England sticks with limited backing as its Monetary Policy Committee voted 7-2 to keep rates at 3.75%. Huw Pill and Megan Greene wanted a hike to 4%. Governor Andrew Bailey said he was “content at the present time with holding”, but flagged inflation and rate risks as still biased upward. Bank of England
Most economists expected the UK to keep rates steady for a while instead of raising soon. Luke Bartholomew, deputy chief economist at Aberdeen, said conditions don’t look like they’ll keep inflation pressure up. There’s a “growing consensus for a long hold,” said Sanjay Raja, Deutsche Bank’s chief UK economist. Reuters
London Stock Exchange Group was the FTSE 100’s worst performer after Rothschild Redburn downgraded the stock to “neutral”. The broader tech sector gave up 3.3%. Fresnillo shares lost 5.8% and Hochschild Mining dropped 7.2% with gold and silver prices moving lower. Stock losses were mostly isolated to a few names. Reuters
Informa was up while others fell. The events and academic-publishing group posted 6.4% underlying revenue growth for the five months to May and kept its full-year earnings outlook unchanged. CEO Stephen Carter said both businesses have “momentum”.
UK jobs data sent a mixed signal. Unemployment hit 4.9% for the three months to April. Vacancies dropped to 707,000 — a low since early 2021. Regular pay was up 3.4%, slowing from earlier numbers. Weak hiring and ongoing wage gains leave the Bank little inclination to shift rates soon.
FTSE 250 held up with only a modest drop, signaling Thursday’s selling didn’t wipe out demand for UK names. Miners, tech and a few big exporters saw the worst of the pullback after the Fed, but it wasn’t a broad vote of no confidence in the UK economic picture.
But the less hawkish rate outlook isn’t set in stone. Energy is still trading over pre-conflict marks and remains jumpy. Bailey has warned the Bank will step in if pricier fuel leaks into wages and broader prices—those second-round effects. Any new disruption out of the Middle East might bring back talk of hikes and push up stress for housebuilders, retailers and other borrowers.
FTSE 100 is still up 17.6% from a year ago, but trades 4.9% under its February peak at 10,934.94. Attention on Friday is on metals and global bonds. Markets are watching if US policy gets priced tighter.
