By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch

U.K. stocks failed to find momentum Tuesday as investors waited to hear from President Donald Trump about his plans for infrastructure and other spending in the U.S.

The FTSE 100 was up 0.1% at 7,257.74, after dipping slightly in early trade as basic material, telecom and financial stocks lost ground. The London index on Monday rose 0.1%, paring bigger gains. But the blue-chip benchmark was on track for finish February with a 2.2% advance.

Investors are focused on a key address by Trump (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/trump-says-budget-will-call-for-historic-increase-in-defense-spending-2017-02-27-101035557) before a joint session of Congress, in hopes of getting more details about his administration's plans for boosting growth in the world's largest economy.

While the speech is not scheduled to begin until after the close of London trading -- 9 p.m. Eastern Time Tuesday, or 2 a.m. London time Wednesday -- some information has emerged. On Monday, Trump said he would have a "big statement" on infrastructure and said his first budget proposal would include a "historic increase (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/trump-says-budget-will-call-for-historic-increase-in-defense-spending-2017-02-27-101035557)" in military spending.

Read:How analysts say you should trade Trump's speech to Congress (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/heres-how-analysts-say-you-should-trade-trumps-speech-to-congress-2017-02-24)

And: How the U.S. stock market has reacted to State of the Union speeches (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/how-the-stock-market-has-reacted-to-state-of-the-union-speeches-2017-02-27)

Investors are "cautiously optimistic about Trump's congressional address, desperately wanting more clarity about the policy ideas fueling this rally," said Accendo Markets analysts Mike van Dulken and Henry Croft, in a note.

Global equity markets have risen since Trump's victory in the presidential election in November, fueled by optimism that his promises of tax reform and fiscal stimulus will translate into action and economic growth.

"Expect much more about increased military spending at the expense of agency budgets, although anything on infrastructure spending could be enough to make up for silence on tax to soothe any bullish nerves," Dulken and Crofit said.

In London, shares of building materials making CRH PLC gained 0.3% and on construction firm Balfour Beatty PLC (BBY.LN) picked up 0.6% on the mid-cap FTSE 250 index .

Metal miners squeezed: Traders on Monday began pricing in a slightly more than a 50% chance the U.S. Federal Reserve will hike interest rates in March (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/odds-of-march-fed-interest-rate-hike-spike-above-50-2017-02-27). The prospects of higher borrowing costs put pressure on prices for metals, including copper and platinum .

Those metals price moves have in turn hurt prices of mining shares. Randgold Resources PLC (RRS.LN) fell 3%, BHP Billiton PLC (BLT.LN) (BHP.AU) (BHP.AU) moved down 1.5%, and Glencore PLC (GLEN.LN) gave up 0.7%.

Fresnillo PLC (FRES.LN) fell 0.9%, even as the precious metals miner raised its dividend and posted higher profit in 2016. (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/fresnillo-lifts-dividend-as-2016-profit-rises-2017-02-28)

Anglo American PLC (AAL.LN) gave up 1.7%. The company's De Beers Group reported a 25% fall in diamond sales (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/anglo-american-de-beers-diamond-sales-fall-25-2017-02-28) during the second cycle of the year, though the drop was in line with its expectations.

Movers: Elsewhere, Babcock International Group PLC (BAB.LN) climbed 3.9% after the support services company backed its full-year outlook (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/babcock-backs-fiscal-2017-outlook-2017-02-28).

Economic update:Consumer confidence in the U.K. fell (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/uk-consumer-confidence-drops-in-february-gfk-2017-02-28) in February, a survey by GfK showed, a sign that personal finances may be being squeezed by a rise in inflation from the fall of the pound after the Brexit vote.

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 28, 2017 04:40 ET (09:40 GMT)

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