LONDON: London's blue-chip FTSE 100 ended higher on Thursday as banks and energy stocks climbed, while the domestically focused mid-caps index slipped amid worries over the economic damage being wrought by the coronavirus pandemic.
The FTSE 100 rose 0.4%, in line with the main European bourses, after the European Central Bank said it will offer euro loans against collateral to central banks outside the euro area to backstop funding markets amid the pandemic.
Banks led gains followed by healthcare stocks, while a rise in oil prices buoyed energy stocks.
The FTSE 250 ended 0.2% lower with Royal Mail and pandemic-pressured travel and leisure stocks leading losses.
The postal company slipped 12.4% after it reported a 31% fall in profits and scrapped dividend payouts for 2020-2021, while also announcing a restructuring plan that includes 2,000 job cuts.
Low-budget airline easyJet shed 9.5% a day after reporting a bigger loss for the first half of the year. Among other decliners, subprime lender NSF tumbled 32.2% on flagging risks to its going concern status.
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