FTSE 100 live: London flat but Currys soars as takeover battle looks likely

London’s FTSE indexes struggled for direction on Monday morning as lingering concerns over the persistence of inflation dampened market sentiment.

The FTSE 100 dipped 0.06 per cent to trade at 7,706.97 while the FTSE 250 index, which is more aligned with the health of the domestic economy, dipped 0.03 per cent to trade at 19,185.14.

Markets were subdued as investors grew concerned that US interest rates might have to remain higher for longer after producer prices came in ahead of expectations at the end of last week.

“With a key inflation reading, the producer prices index, coming in hotter than expected on Friday, investor hopes of rapid cuts to interest rates by the Federal Reserve have cooled off, leading to more risk-off sentiment,” Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown said.

The biggest news in London was the bidding war brewing over Currys.

Over the weekend, Currys rejected an unsolicited £700m bid from activist investor Elliot. Currys argued that the deal “undervalued” the company but Elliot said they are still considering a possible deal for the retailer on Monday morning.

The hedge fund may face competition from Chinese retail giant JD, which said it was in “very preliminary” stages of evaluating a cash offer.

Shares in Currys soared over 33 per cent following the news.

On the FTSE 100, Astrazeneca rose to the top of the index after its Tagrisso drug received positive clinical trial results.

In a statement to the market this morning, the pharmaceutical giant said that results from Phase III trial showed a “statistically significant and highly clinically meaningful improvement” in progression-free survival.

Its shares rose 3.8 per cent.

Shares in Anglo American fell 1.4 per cent after its platinum mining arm reported a huge profit crash. Anglo American said it plans to cut 3,700 jobs across its mining operations, with a particularly large hit expected to come in South Africa.

“It is apparent that further measures to create critical resilience and greater competitiveness are needed to sustain the business,” chief executive officer Craig Miller said in a statement Monday.

US markets are closed today for Presidents’ Day.