Britain’s FTSE 100 touched one-week highs on Wednesday, led by gains in banks and mining stocks, while luxury retailer Burberry boosted the midcap index following a rating upgrade.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 rose 0.7% to its highest since February 19.
Banks were the biggest boost to the index, with mortgage lender Lloyds gaining 4.6% after at least two brokerages raised their price target on the stock.
Metro Bank rose 4.3% after the lender said it had signed an agreement to sell a portfolio of about 584 million pounds ($739 million) of unsecured personal loans.
UK-listed miners advanced, tracking copper prices, after U.S. President Donald Trump moved closer to imposing tariffs on copper imports, while a power outage in top producer Chile also supported the wider market. [MET/L]
Glencore gained 2%, Anglo American rose 3.5% and Antofagasta was up 3.6%.
ConvaTec Group gained 4.9% after the medical equipment maker reported higher annual profit.
Global stocks rebounded, with European shares touching a record high, after reports that the U.S. and Ukraine agreed on terms of a draft minerals deal.
Investors are awaiting artificial intelligence chip bellwether Nvidia’s results later in the day to see if sky-high valuations in the technology sector are justified.
The midcap FTSE 250 also gained 0.7%.
Burberry rose 7.8% after brokerage Kepler Cheuvreux raised the luxury retailer’s rating to “buy” from “hold” and said it expects a slow recovery for the sector in the second half of the year.
Pets at Home surged 7.7% to a three-month high on takeover speculation.
On the flip side, Aston Martin plunged 12% after the luxury automaker announced a second delay in launching its first battery electric vehicle and said it plans to reduce its global workforce by 5%.
(Reporting by Sanchayaita Roy and Ragini Mathur）
