FTSE 100 closes lower for third session ahead of UK data, BoE decision

By Pranav Kashyap and Purvi Agarwal

(Reuters) -London's FTSE closed lower for the third straight session on Monday, ahead of a week of key economic data and the Bank of England's rate cut decision, with industrial metal miners adding to declines after weak Chinese output numbers.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 closed 0.1% lower, while the mid-cap FTSE 250 was up 0.2%.

The FTSE 100 had marked its longest weekly losing streak in more than four years last week, after French President Emmanuel Macron's call for snap elections and hawkish Federal Reserve projections had rattled markets.

Investors held back from making big bets this week ahead of consumer price index (CPI) figures due on Wednesday and the Bank of England's next monetary policy meeting on Thursday.

"There is a keen eye trained on what's happening (with) interest rates this week with the BoE, and a bit of uncertainty going through the election campaign," said Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown.

Medical equipment and services stocks fell 2.1%, the most among sectoral peers, while industrial miners lost 0.9% on weak Chinese industrial data. [MET/L]

Declines were capped by non-life insurers which gained 1.8%.

Investors will also scrutinise a slew of U.S. economic data, alongside speeches by several Federal Reserve officials, after the central bank last week projected only one interest cut this year.

Among individual stocks, Crest Nicholson was up 2.6%, after Peel Hunt upgraded its rating to "Add" from "Hold".

Superdry gained 10% after the retailer said it had received court approval for its restructuring strategy.

Hochschild Mining climbed 3.3% to top the FTSE 250 after BMO reinstated its "outperform" rating.

(Reporting by Pranav Kashyap and Purvi Agarwal in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich and Alexander Smith)