By Khushi Singh
(Reuters) -UK's FTSE 100 closed lower on Monday as losses in heavyweight industrial mining stocks weighed on the commodity-focused index, while luxury retailer Burberry slipped on a price target cut.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 fell 0.4%, while the more domestically focussed FTSE 250 midcap index was down 0.1%.
Industrial metal miners lost 0.5% following a downturn in copper prices as worries about demand resurfaced after weak data from China. [MET/L]
The personal goods sector dropped 1.1% as Burberry shares slid 1.6% after Deutsche Bank (ETR:DBKGn) reduced its price target on the luxury retailer.
Precious metal miners led sectoral gains, adding 2.2% as gold prices hit a more than six-month high, helped by a weaker dollar and expectations of an end to U.S. interest rate hikes. [GOL/]
Rightmove shares rose 4.8%, leading gains in the FTSE 100, after the UK's largest property portal lifted its forecast for annual average revenue per advertiser and added broker advice to its mortgage business.
"Clients are spending more on advertising on average, driven by new home developers doing more to try and shift their properties," said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, in a note.
The broader real estate index was up 1.2%.
Metro Bank soared 4.9% on a report that Barclays (LON:BARC) is in exclusive talks to buy the lender's 3 billion pound ($3.74 billion) residential mortgages portfolio.
Metro Bank investors also backed a 925 million pound ($1.15 billion) rescue package for the bank that hands majority control to its biggest shareholder, Colombian billionaire Jaime Gilinski.
The exporter-heavy FTSE 100 is on track for monthly gains as sentiment got a lift from hopes of a softer monetary policy globally, with expectations growing that perhaps interest rates have peaked.
Meanwhile, Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey said getting inflation down to the central bank's 2% target would be "hard work" as most of its recent fall was due to the unwinding of the jump in energy costs last year.