LONDON: Britain's FTSE 100 rose on Thursday, led by mining and healthcare-related stocks as the Bank of England kept its crisis-era monetary policy unchanged, while cruise operator Carnival fell after a quarterly loss of over $2 billion.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 ended up 0.6%, with drugmaker AstraZeneca and miners Anglo American, Rio Tinto and BHP Group providing the biggest boost to the index.

The mid-cap FTSE 250, on the other hand, dropped 0.5% following disappointing half-yearly results from engineering and consultancy company Wood Plc that sent its own shares tumbling 8.9% to an over one-year low.

The export-heavy FTSE 100 is on course to post its fifth straight monthly gain on the back of a steady economic recovery, but recent signs of a jump in inflation and a hawkish tone by US Fed towards monetary policies have sparked fears central banks could raise interest rates sooner than expected.

Base and precious metal miners, rose 1.7% and 0.1%, respectively and were the top sectoral gainers.

A rally in homebuilders fizzled out despite upbeat half-yearly earnings from Crest Nicholson Holdings Plc.

Carnival Corp fell 1.5% after the cruise operator reported a quarterly loss of more than $2 billion as a 15-month-long suspension of voyages due to the Covid-19 pandemic hammered its business.