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Nov 21 Reuters The FTSE 100 slipped on Monday, hit by weakness in commoditylinked stocks, as COVID19 curbs in top metals consumer China and a stronger dollar weighed on the global mood.

The bluechip FTSE 100 was down 0.2 after hitting its strongest close in over two months on Friday.

UK39;s energy sector fell 1.1 as oil prices , dropped, while industrial metal miners shed 1.3 on worries about slowing demand from the world39;s second largest economy.

China is fighting numerous COVID19 flare ups, from Zhengzhou in central Henan province to Chongqing in the southwest.

Markets are really moving into safe havens because of China COVID curbs. You39;re seeing healthcare and utilities being up while the most Chinese sensitive stocks are selling off the most, said Patrick Armstrong, chief investment officer at Plurimi Wealth.

Meanwhile, Wall Street indexes looked set for opening losses as hawkish comments from Federal Reserve officials quashed hopes of smaller interest rate hikes following soft inflation data in October.

Investors were also assessing UK Finance Minister Jeremy Hunt39;s budget speech last week when he unveiled higher taxes and spending curbs in an effort to reassure markets that the government was serious about fighting inflation.

The domestically focussed FTSE 250 index reversed earlier losses and was up 0.4.

Among individual stocks,…