(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 0.3%
Feb 22 (Reuters) - London's FTSE 100 fell on Monday as
higher commodity prices sparked fears of a spike in inflation,
while investors awaited Prime Minister Boris Johnson's plan for
a phased easing of business restrictions.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 .FTSE fell 0.6%, led by declines in
consumer staples and industrials stocks.
Oil heavyweights BP BP.L and Royal Dutch Shell RDSa.L
dipped 0.1% and 0.3%, respectively, despite higher crude prices.
O/R
Johnson will plot a path out of COVID-19 lockdown on Monday
in an effort to gradually reopen the battered $3 trillion
economy, aided by one of the fastest vaccine rollouts in the
world. The mid-cap index .FTMC fell 0.3%, led by declines in
financials and industrials stocks.
British Airways-owner IAG ICAG.L rose 1.1% after it said
it raised total liquidity by 2.45 billion pounds ($3.4 billion),
reaching final agreement for a 2-billion-pound loan, and through
a deal to defer 450 million pounds of pension deficit
contributions. Pub operator Mitchells & Butlers MAB.L shed 0.5% as it
reported a plunge in sales due to all its sites having been
forced shut under the latest lockdown.