LONDON: A surge in Provident Financial's shares boosted the British mid-cap FTSE 250 on Wednesday, while investor attention turned to an annual central bankers' conference later in the week.
Provident jumped 20.8% to its highest in five months despite suspending dividend payments, with analysts saying the doorstep lender's first-half loss and bad loan provisions were less than feared.
The domestically-focussed FTSE 250 was up 0.9% after sliding in the previous session following an unexpected fall in domestic retail sales.
The export-laden FTSE 100 closed up just 0.1%, struggling to build on a strong start to the week as more signs of a sluggish economic rebound overshadowed optimism around Covid-19 vaccines and US-China trade.
UK equity benchmarks have lagged the recovery in their European and US peers since April and are still down about 20% on the year. That compares with a 6.6% rise for the S&P 500 powered by historic stimulus and a rally in technology stocks.
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