(Reuters) – UK shares tracked global markets higher on Monday, as hopes of a de-escalation in Russia-Ukraine tensions bolstered appetite for risky assets.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 was up 0.6% at 0805 GMT, while the domestically focussed mid-cap index advanced 0.5%.
Mining stocks gained 1.2%, tracking copper prices that firmed on support from a weaker dollar and prospects of easing tensions in Ukraine. [MET/L]
The office of French President Emmanuel Macron said on Monday President Joe Biden and Russian President Vladimir Putin had agreed in principle to a summit over Ukraine.
Meanwhile, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is expected to set out plans to scrap coronavirus restrictions, boosting sentiment further and lifting travel and leisure stocks up 1.3%.
John Menzies rose 1.2% after saying Kuwait’s National Aviation Services (NAS) has sweetened its takeover proposal for the British airport services company to about 559 million pounds ($761.75 million).
Dechra Pharmaceuticals PLC gained 4.9% after its half-yearly revenue and profit beat expectations, while drugmaker AstraZeneca climbed 1.5% after saying its cancer drug helped patients with a type of advanced breast cancer live longer.
(Reporting by Bansari Mayur Kamdar in Bengaluru; editing by Uttaresh.V)
