Recharged trade hopes boost FTSE, mid-caps hit 15-month high

By Shashwat Awasthi and Yadarisa Shabong

(Reuters) – Britain’s FTSE 100 rose on Monday on renewed hopes an initial Sino-U.S. trade deal may be clinched this year while further signs the Conservatives are set to win an election next month drove mid-caps to their highest since September 2018.

The main index () climbed 1%, boosted by miners () and Asia-focused financial stocks HSBC (L:) and Prudential (L:) after the U.S. national security adviser said a preliminary trade deal was possible this year.

The index, which jumped more than 1% in the previous session, was also supported by a 3% gain in Burberry (L:) after rival LVMH (PA:) agreed to buy U.S. jeweller Tiffany (N:) for $16.2 billion.

The more domestically-focussed FTSE 250 () rose 1.1%, in tandem with sterling after opinion polls showed the Conservatives were still favourites to win the Dec. 12 election, raising the likelihood of Brexit happening.

The mid-cap index has gained 2.5% since Oct. 29, when parliament approved Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s call for an election, and hit its highest since Sept. 4, 2018.

Blue-chip housebuilders such as Berkeley (L:), Barratt (L:) and Persimmon (L:) climbed about 1.5% each while UK-exposed banks such as Lloyds (L:), Barclays (L:) and RBS (L:) advanced nearly 2%.

JP Morgan’s basket of London-listed firms <.jpdeukdm> that make their cash at home rallied 1.4% to its highest since April.

However, shares of Restaurant Group (L:) slumped nearly 9% after the owner of Frankie & Benny’s reported slowing like-for-like sales growth at its Wagamama business in Britain.

Hochschild Mining (L:), which fell 9% on Friday after a lacklustre production outlook for 2020, also underperformed, losing another 7% and hitting its lowest in almost six months.

Despite a firmer pound, the exporter-heavy FTSE posted gains as Sino-U.S. trade sentiment was boosted by China’s assurance of stronger protections for intellectual property, which analysts have identified as a key factor in trade talks.

“The move suggests that key concessions are being made in order to increase the prospects of a partial U.S.-China deal, which is giving investors another opportunity to capitalise on risk-on trading activity,” FXTM analyst Han Tan said.

IAG (L:) rose 2% after British Airways and its pilots union BALPA reached a preliminary agreement to end the pay dispute that resulted in the first walkout by pilots in the airline’s history.