London stocks fall as losses in personal goods, precious metal miners weigh

A street cleaning operative walks past the London Stock Exchange Group building in the City of London financial district, whilst British stocks tumble as investors fear that the coronavirus outbreak could stall the global economy, in London, Britain, March 9, 2020. REUTERS/Toby Melville/File Photo Acquire Licensing Rights

UK stocks down 0.2% Nov 24 (Reuters) - UK stocks fell on Friday hurt by losses in personal goods and precious metal miners, while a survey showed that British consumers were more optimistic about their outlook for the economy in November.

The benchmark FTSE 100 (.FTSE) and the midcap index (.FTMC) both slid 0.2% by 0818 GMT and were on track to log weekly declines.

Personal goods (.FTNMX402040) and precious metal miners (.FTNMX551030) led the declines among sectors, while pharma and biotech (.FTNMX201030) and retailers (.FTNMX404010) eke out some gains.

Market research firm GfK on Friday said British consumers have turned more optimistic about their outlook for the economy and their personal finances this month, but their mood remained a long way off pre-Covid levels.

Barclays (BARC.L) climbed 0.3% after Reuters reported the British bank is working on plans to save as much as 1 billion pounds ($1.25 billion), which could involve cutting as many as 2,000 jobs, mainly in the back office.

Meanwhile, Bank of England Chief Economist Huw Pill told Financial Times on Friday that the central bank had to hold firm in its battle against inflation and it cannot afford to loosen tight monetary policy.