Britain's FTSE 100 slips as miners, healthcare losses weigh

By Tharuniyaa Lakshmi

July 6 (Reuters) - London's FTSE 100 ended lower on Monday as losses in precious metal miners and drugmakers including AstraZeneca weighed, while easyJet topped the midcap index after agreeing to a takeover offer.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 index fell 0.3% to 10,651.8 points at close, while the midcap FTSE 250 slipped 0.2%.

• Precious metal miners fell 2.2% after gold prices retreated from a two-week high, as the dollar ticked up in anticipation of the U.S. Federal Reserve's latest policy meeting minutes due later this week. [GOL/]

• Travel and leisure stocks rose 0.4%, led by easyJet, which gained 9.3% after the British budget airline agreed in principle to a sweetened takeover offer from U.S. investment firm Castlelake, valuing the carrier at up to 5.5 billion pounds ($7.34 billion).

• "There's plenty of U.S. money but also Chinese money that looks at some of the assets," David Morrison, senior market analyst at Trade Nation, said. "It's a good opportunity to get invested or even to buy a chunk of UK companies."

• Pharma and biotech fell 2.1%, with heavyweights AstraZeneca and GSK losing 2.5% and 1.6%, respectively.

• On the geopolitical front, investors saw little progress in efforts to ease tensions in the Middle East, though uninterrupted shipping through the Strait of Hormuz and expectations of higher supply helped push oil prices lower. [O/R]

• The Bank of England could give Britain's government bond market a boost this week and lower public borrowing costs by more than 1 billion pounds ($1.3 billion) a year, banks say — but some former regulators warn a change in rules to achieve this would increase financial risks.

• Among other stocks, Close Brothers fell 9.1% after brokerage RBC downgraded its rating on the British lender to "sector perform" from "outperform".

• U.S.-based Comcast's Sky agreed to buy the broadcast channels and streaming service of Britain's ITV for £1.6 billion ($2.13 billion). ITV shares ended flat.

(Reporting by Tharuniyaa Lakshmi and Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru; Editing by Joyjeet Das and Andrew Heavens)