Britain’s FTSE rises on resource-linked boost; Ocado drops

By Anisha Sircar and Boleslaw Lasocki

(Reuters) – London’s FTSE 100 index climbed on Tuesday as mining and energy stocks tracked gains in commodities, while Ocado fell after the online supermarket announced plans to raise more than 550 million pounds through a share placement.

The blue-chip index firmed 0.4%, led by gains in energy stocks and base-metal miners amid tight supplies even as recession concerns linger on. [O/R] [MET/L]

It is a “relief rally”, said David Madden, market analyst at Equiti Capital.

Investors also await UK consumer price data for May due on Wednesday, after inflation in April surged to a 40-year high.

Consumer prices will take time to cool down, as there are a lot of reasons inflation is high, including costs of transportation, said Madden.

Central banks around the world have been raising interest rates aggressively to tame soaring inflation, with the Bank of England hiking it to 1.25% on June 16.

Meanwhile, Britain’s biggest rail strike in 30 years kicked off on Tuesday, as tens of thousands of staff walked out in a dispute over pay and jobs that could pave the way for widespread industrial action across the economy in the coming months.

Transport operators including Firstgroup, Go-Ahead Group and National Express fell between 0.7% and 2.6%.

The domestically focussed mid-cap FTSE 250 index slipped 0.3%.

Also capping gains in UK stocks was Ocado, down 2.5%, after the grocer announced plans to boost its liquidity and raise 575 million pounds ($704.2 million).

Telecom Plus rose 3.2% after the company posted a strong annual profit, while cardboard maker DS Smith also gained 3.7% on strong annual numbers.

(Reporting by Anisha Sircar and Amal S in Bengaluru and Boleslaw Lasocki in Gdansk; Editing by Rashmi Aich, Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Vinay Dwivedi)