London stocks log weekly jump on China stimulus, signs of US inflation easing

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By Lisa Pauline Mattackal and Shubham Batra

(Reuters) -British equities ended the week on a high note on signs U.S. inflation is continuing to ease, boosting the view that the Federal Reserve will continue its monetary loosening, while China’s aggressive stimulus measures lifted mining and luxury stocks.

The bluechip FTSE 100 index was up 0.4%, while the domestically-focused FTSE 250 midcap index rose over 1%.

Both the indexes rose on a weekly basis, buoyed by hopes for a turnaround in the Chinese economy after policymakers this week announced numerous aggressive stimulus measures. Still, the FTSE 100 has lagged the European benchmark STOXX 600, which gained more than 2% for the week.

In the latest move, China’s central bank on Friday lowered interest rates and injected liquidity into the banking system, with more fiscal measures expected to be announced before China’s week-long holidays starting on Oct. 1.

Among sectors, personal goods led gains with a 5.4% rise on the day and recorded their best week since Feb. 2017, boosted by over 17% weekly gains in Burberry shares.

Lifting sentiment, the U.S. personal consumption expenditures (PCE) price index stood at 0.1% in August as expected, easing from an unrevised 0.2% gain in July. In the 12 months through August, the PCE price index stood at 2.2%, easing from 2.5% in July.

Odds that the Fed will cut rates by 50 basis points at its November meeting stood at about 52.1%, compared with 50% seen before the data, as per the CME Group’s FedWatch Tool.

Among other movers, Cranswick rose 6.7% after the meat producer forecast its annual profit towards the upper end of market expectations.

Rightmove will consider a sweetened 6.2 billion pound ($8.3 billion) takeover bid from Rupert Murdoch-owned Australian firm REA Group, after rejecting three previous bids. Shares of the UK real estate portal rose 0.5%.

(Reporting by Lisa Mattackal and Shubham Batra in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich and Hugh Lawson)