UK shares rise as softer oil, easing gilt yields lift sentiment
EWU•The FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 each rose 0.5% as lower oil prices and gilt yields calmed investors. Financial and consumer staples shares led gains in the FTSE 100.
1. UK indexes advance
The FTSE 100 rose 0.5% to 10,554.51 points by 1030 GMT, while the FTSE 250 also gained 0.5%. Softer oil prices and easing government borrowing costs followed last week's bond-market volatility.
2. Stocks move on company news
Informa gained 2.8% after announcing a £2.24 billion purchase of events organiser Clarion and plans to spin off its Taylor & Francis academic publishing division. Clarkson climbed 6% after forecasting annual underlying pretax profit above market expectations. AstraZeneca rose 2.2% after announcing more than $1 billion in Massachusetts investment, while Kenmare Resources jumped 28% after confirming it had received a non-binding proposal.
3. Defence shares fall
BAE Systems, Babcock International and Rolls-Royce fell between 1.1% and 3% after a report said the government was considering delaying plans to set out a path toward defence spending of 3% of GDP. Markets priced in a 90% chance of a Bank of England rate hike at its November meeting, LSEG data showed.
