LONDON: UK shares were set for their biggest one-day gain in a week on Thursday, with a profit upgrade from airline easyJet and a report of bid interest in the supermarkets sector adding to a global market recovery.
Data showing Britain's services sector recorded its weakest growth in more than two years last month also supported stocks, with the benign outlook for inflation seen by investors as a sign that monetary policy will stay loose.
The FTSE 100 blue-chip index, which is due to be reshuffled on Sept. 21 to include housebuilder Berkeley Group and drop Weir Group, was up 1.9 percent at 6,196.45 points at 0836 GMT. The pan-European FTSEurofirst 300 index was up 1.6 percent.
EasyJet was up 6.3 percent, hitting its highest level since May, after the airline raised its full-year profit outlook to forecast growth of up to 21 percent.
Following a bruising worldwide sell-off last week, UK and European equities are in recovery mode with investors betting monetary policy will stay lower for longer.
The FTSE 100 is currently trading at a discount to euro-zone stocks.
"EasyJet's numbers were good, this is a good market rebound," said Mark Ward, head of execution trading at Sanlam Securities in London. "Overall sentiment is a bit better today."
Morrison Supermarkets was up 4.8 percent after a report in the Telegraph newspaper signalled South African billionaire Christo Wiese, who recently bought Virgin Active and New Look, is now training his sights on Britain's struggling supermarket industry.
Battered miners Glencore and Anglo American staged a rebound, rising around 4 percent, even after Standard & Poor's cut its outlook for Glencore to 'negative' from 'stable'.
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