XM does not provide services to residents of the United States of America.

London stocks lose steam after Fed's rate cut outlook; Halma jumps



<html xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><head><title>UPDATE 2-London stocks lose steam after Fed's rate cut outlook; Halma jumps</title></head><body>

For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock markets, click LIVE/ or type LIVE/ in a news window

FTSE 100 down 0.6%, FTSE 250 off 1.5%

Halma jumps after full-year revenue, core profit beat

Crest Nicholson warns of drop in annual profit; shares slide

Updated at 1553 GMT

By Pranav Kashyap and Purvi Agarwal

June 13 (Reuters) -British stocks closed lower on Thursday, tracking European market losses as investors digested the Federal Reserve's projection forfewer US rate cuts this year, while health and safety equipment maker Halma soared after its results beat estimates.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 .FTSE closed 0.6% lower, a day after itsbest day in over a month. The mid-cap FTSE 250 .FMTC dipped 1.5%, in its worst day in nearly two months.

Home construction and household goods .FTNMX402020 slipped 2.8% asCrest Nicholson CRST.L slumped 11.6% to the bottom of the FTE 250 after the homebuilder warned its annual profit would fall about one-third and postedan 88% slump in half-year earnings.

Utilities .FTUB6510 and personal care stocks .FTNMX452010 were the only outliers with gains of0.3% and 0.5%, respectively.

The pan-European STOXX600 .STOXX was down 1.3%, its worst day since mid-April.

"Mood across the European markets is heavy today due to political uncertainty and strongly softer-than-expected EZ industrial production data," said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior analyst at Swissquote Bank.

Meanwhile, the Fed kept rates unchanged on Wednesday, plotting one cut in the year, and pushing out the start to perhaps as late as December.

"The Bank of England is likely to cut earlier and a bit more aggressively than the U.S. because the UK economy has bottomed out," said Thomas Gehlen, senior market strategist at SG Kleinwort Hambros.

A report also showed U.S. producer prices unexpectedly fell in May, in another signof subsiding inflation.

Investors will now shift focus to the crucial domestic inflation report ahead of the Bank of England's next monetary policy meeting, both due in the next week.

Among other individual stocks, Halma HLMA.L jumped 13.4% to the top of the FTSE100 after the technology firm beat estimates for full-year revenue and core profit.



Reporting by Pranav Kashyap and Purvi Agarwal in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonia Cheema and Eileen Soreng; Editing by Richard Chang

 For related prices, Reuters users may click on - * UK stock report .L FTSE index: 0#.FTS6 techMARK 100 index: .FTT1X FTSE futures: 0#FFI: Gilt futures: 0#FLG: Smallcap index: .FTSC FTSE 250 index: .FTMC FTSE 350 index: .FTLC Market digest: .AD.L Top 10 by vol: .AV.L Top price gainers: .NG.L Top % gainers: .PG.L Top price losers: .NL.L Top % losers: .PL.L * For related news, click on - * UK hot stocks: HOT and GB Wall Street: .N Gilts report: GB/ Euro bond report GVD/EUR Pan European stock report: .EU Tokyo stocks: .T HK stocks: .HK Sterling report: GBP/ Dollar report: USD/ * For company prices, click on - * Company directory: UKEQ By sector: FTAX * For pan-European market data, click on - * European Equities speed guide................ EUR/EQUITY FTSE Eurotop 300 index........................... .FTEU3 DJ STOXX index................................... .STOXX Top 10 STOXX sectors........................ .PGL.STOXXS Top 10 EUROSTOXX sectors................... .PGL.STOXXES Top 10 Eurotop 300 sectors.................. .PGL.FTEU3S Top 25 European pct gainers.................... .PG.PEUR Top 25 European pct losers..................... .PL.PEUR
</body></html>

Disclaimer: The XM Group entities provide execution-only service and access to our Online Trading Facility, permitting a person to view and/or use the content available on or via the website, is not intended to change or expand on this, nor does it change or expand on this. Such access and use are always subject to: (i) Terms and Conditions; (ii) Risk Warnings; and (iii) Full Disclaimer. Such content is therefore provided as no more than general information. Particularly, please be aware that the contents of our Online Trading Facility are neither a solicitation, nor an offer to enter any transactions on the financial markets. Trading on any financial market involves a significant level of risk to your capital.

All material published on our Online Trading Facility is intended for educational/informational purposes only, and does not contain – nor should it be considered as containing – financial, investment tax or trading advice and recommendations; or a record of our trading prices; or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instruments; or unsolicited financial promotions to you.

Any third-party content, as well as content prepared by XM, such as: opinions, news, research, analyses, prices and other information or links to third-party sites contained on this website are provided on an “as-is” basis, as general market commentary, and do not constitute investment advice. To the extent that any content is construed as investment research, you must note and accept that the content was not intended to and has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such, it would be considered as marketing communication under the relevant laws and regulations. Please ensure that you have read and understood our Notification on Non-Independent Investment. Research and Risk Warning concerning the foregoing information, which can be accessed here.

Risk Warning: Your capital is at risk. Leveraged products may not be suitable for everyone. Please consider our Risk Disclosure.