BUSINESS LIVE: John Lewis hires its next chair; CVS suffers cyber incident; Gold continues to soar

London-listed stocks have started the week on a cautious note as investors brace for US and UK economic data, which could prompt investors to reassess interest rate cut bets, while a rise in industrial metal miners limited losses on the benchmark index.

Leading sectoral gains, industrial metal miners have added 1.9 per cent as Shanghai copper prices jumped to a record high following supply cuts and positive demand prospects.

Precious metal miners also have also advanced 1.2 per cent, tracking an extended record rally in gold prices.

Focus will be on the upcoming US Consumer Price Inflation data, due on Wednesday, and Britain’s GDP figures on Friday.

Meanwhile, the European Central Bank is broadly expected to keep interest rates on hold in its monetary policy meeting on Thursday.

Top US financial firms kick off the earnings season on Wall Street later this week.

CVS Group experienced ‘considerable operational disruption’ over the last week after it was struck by a cyber incident, the London-listed firm said on Monday.

The veterinary services provider, which runs 500 practices across the British Isles, the Netherlands, and Australia, told shareholders the attack involved ‘unauthorised external access’ to a small number of its IT systems.

Norfolk-based CVS took its computer systems offline in response, thereby preventing additional outside access.

John Lewis Partnership has appointed the former chief executive of Tesco UK and Ireland as its next chair, replacing Sharon White when she steps down later this year.