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FTSE 100 down 0.12%, FTSE 250 up 0.43%

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AstraZeneca ( AZN ) pauses $270 million investment in Britain,

shares

fall

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Sainsbury hits four-year high after ending JD.com ( JD ) talks

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BoE expected to hold rates steady amid inflation concerns

Sept 15 (Reuters) - London's FTSE 100 index edged lower

on Monday, dragged down by heavyweight AstraZeneca ( AZN ) and a strong

sterling, as investors braced for an action-packed week of

central bank decisions, including from the Bank of England.

The benchmark FTSE 100 was down 0.12% by 0917 GMT.

Britain's biggest company AstraZeneca ( AZN ) became the

latest drugmaker to pull back on its business in the country

after it paused a planned 200 million pound ($271.26 million)

investment in its Cambridge research centre. Its shares fell

3.4%.

Pharma and biotech stocks led sectoral losses

as they declined 2.6%.

Sterling's strength against the greenback also weighed on

export-oriented firms as investors braced for a week of pivotal

central bank decisions.

Meanwhile, the BoE is expected to hold interest rates steady

on September 18 due to rising inflation and to slow down its 100

billion-pound-a-year bond unwind amid renewed volatility in gilt

markets.

The central bank is expected to cut rates once next quarter

and again early next year, according to a majority of economists

in a Reuters poll.

The spotlight will remain on the U.S. Federal Reserve as it

announces its policy decision this week, alongside several other

central banks, including those in Japan and Canada.

Additionally, the U.S. and Britain will announce agreements

on technology and civil nuclear energy during President Donald

Trump's second state visit this week, as the UK hopes to

finalise steel tariffs under a highly anticipated trade deal.

Meanwhile, the domestically focused FTSE 250 gained

0.43% led by AO World's 11.3% jump after the British

electronics retailer laid out plans for its first-ever share

buyback and raised the lower end of its annual adjusted pre-tax

profit forecast.

Among other individual stocks, Sainsbury hit a more

than four-year high, up 5%, after the supermarket group said on

Sunday it has terminated talks with Chinese e-commerce giant

JD.com ( JD ) over selling the Argos general merchandise

retailer.