London stocks see off quarter lower; Aston Martin weighs on midcaps

By Shashwat Chauhan and Khushi Singh

(Reuters) -UK's FTSE 100 ended lower on Monday amid broader market weakness, though it clocked quarterly gains, while the midcap index slipped after Aston Martin issued a profit warning.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 closed 1% lower, clocking marginal monthly losses, though recording its fifth consecutive quarter of gains.

Rightmove dropped 7.7% after Rupert Murdoch's REA Group ended its $8.29 billion takeover pursuit following a fourth bid rejection from the real estate portal.

The midcap FTSE 250 index slipped 0.9%, with Aston Martin leading losses, down 24.5%, after the luxury carmaker warned of lower annual profit and cut its production forecast.

The automobile subindex dropped 6.7%.

Most FTSE 350 sectors ended lower, with precious metal miners slipping 2.9%, tracking falling gold prices. [GOL/]

On Monday, data showed Britain's economy grew more slowly than previously thought in the second quarter, but there were positive signs from household finances and business investment that could encourage finance minister Rachel Reeves as she prepares next month's budget.

"It should be good news that the economy is bigger than we thought, but in many ways, it's not. For one, the data is all in the rear-view mirror," Elizabeth Martins, senior economist, UK at HSBC noted.

Risk sentiment had flourished this month after the U.S. Federal Reserve eased its monetary policy, while a slew of stimulus measures announced by top-commodity consumer China gave a leg up to index heavyweight energy and mining stocks.

Construction and materials was the best performing FTSE 350 sector for the quarter, while oil and gas lagged with a more than 15% drop.

(Reporting by Khushi Singh and Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru; Editing by Eileen Soreng and Shailesh Kuber)