LONDON: Britain’s FTSE 100 rose on Tuesday, boosted by financials and healthcare stocks, a day after worries around recession risks, higher interest rates, and extended COVID-19 lockdowns in China triggered a bruising sell-off on the blue-chip index.
The FTSE 100 ended 0.4% higher, after falling more than 1.5% in each of the previous two sessions.
Banking stocks gained 0.3%, after declining more than 2% on Monday, while life insurers climbed 1%.
Drugmakers AstraZeneca and GlaxoSmithKline were among top gainers, while consumer staples stock Unilever rose 1.8%.
The FTSE 100 has outperformed its domestically focussed mid-cap counterpart this year due to its international make-up and as commodity stocks tracked oil and metal prices higher.
“Mid-caps don’t have the same kind of power and are not as able to pass on the pain of rising costs to their consumer.” Data showed British shoppers, hit by surging inflation, cut their spending for the first time since early 2021 when the country was under a coronavirus lockdown.
After five days of heavy selling, the FTSE 250 bounced back 0.4%.
London’s Heathrow increased its 2022 passenger forecast by 16% to nearly 53 million, driven by outbound holidaymakers. That helped travel and leisure stocks gain 0.3%.
Among individual movers, Renishaw Plc slid 3.2% as the engineering firm lowered its annual profit forecast over uncertainties in global trade and warned of potential disruption to its business from COVID-19 lockdowns in China.
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