Dec 22 (Reuters) - UK stocks edged lower on Monday after three straight days of gains at the start of a holiday-shortened week, as the latest data confirmed Britain's economy grew at a sluggish pace
FTSE 100 Falls on Sluggish UK Growth; Gold Miners Gain
Dec 22 (Reuters) - The FTSE 100 closed lower on Monday, after three straight days of gains, as data confirmed Britain's economy grew at a sluggish pace last quarter.
The blue-chip index ended down 0.3%, while the domestically focused midcap FTSE 250 reversed early losses to close up 0.1%, holding near recent seven-week highs.
Official data showed GDP grew just 0.1% in the third quarter, in line with estimates, with April-June growth revised down to 0.2% from 0.3%. The figures suggest higher taxes and sticky inflation are weighing on activity, despite increased household spending and reduced savings.
Meanwhile, finance minister Rachel Reeves asked the Office for Budget Responsibility to publish an interim economic and public finance forecast on March 3.
Among sectors, consumer staples lagged, with beverage stocks down 2.8%. Spirits maker Diageo fell 3.6%, the biggest drag on the blue-chip index, after Bernstein trimmed its target price to 2,310 pence from 2,420 pence.
Gold miners kept losses in check, benefitting from gold surging to an all-time high of $4,440.21/oz. Endeavour Mining and Fresnillo rose between 1.9% and 2.8%. [GOL/]
Despite Monday's dip, the FTSE 100 is on track for its best year since 2009 with a 20.7% year-to-date climb, buoyed by defence and financial stocks. By comparison, Wall Street's benchmark S&P 500 index has risen 16.2% so far.
Among individual stocks, Rank Group fell 5.1% after the British gaming company said its Spanish units had been victims of a 7.1-million-euro ($8.3 million) payment fraud.
Trading volumes usually taper off towards year-end with traders away on holidays and markets closed on December 25 and December 26.
(Reporting by Tharuniyaa Lakshmi in Bengaluru. Editing by Vijay Kishore and Mark Potter)
