LONDON: London’s FTSE 100 edged higher on Monday after posting its second straight weekly drop, while Cineworld Group gained following a strong weekend opening after a months-long lockdown in the UK.
The blue-chip index rose 0.5% with consumer discretionary stocks, mainly Compass Group Plc, Flutter Entertainment and Entain rising between 2.2% and 2.7%.
Oil majors Royal Dutch Shell and BP were also among the biggest risers on the index, rising 9.8% and 4.2%, respectively.
The domestically focused mid-cap FTSE 250 index advanced 0.4%. Cineworld rose 3.2% after the world’s second-largest cinema chain said its UK cinemas pulled in more people than expected, helped by Sony Pictures’ animated adventure comedy “Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway”.
After rising 9.1% in the first four months of this year on recovery optimism, the FTSE 100 has traded in a tight range in the past few sessions as concerns grew that central banks might pare back their support early as economies reopen and inflation picks up.
Kainos Group fell 1.8%, even after the digital services company posted a 124% jump in its annual adjusted pretax profit.
Chilean miner Antofagasta fell 0.9% after RBC cut its price target on the stock, while Mr Kipling owner Premier Foods climbed 5.9% after brokerages raised their price targets.
Globally, stocks struggled for momentum as investors awaited key US inflation readings for guidance on monetary policy.
“Observers will be asking if this is the week the FTSE 100 finally pushes ahead of the 7,000 mark after a period of going backwards and forwards around this level,” said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.
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