Retailers, energy stocks push London stocks higher

  • Reuters
  • Stock Market News
Retailers, energy stocks push London stocks higher
Credit: © Reuters.

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* FTSE 100 gains 0.4%, FTSE 250 up 0.1%

Jan 5 (Reuters) - British shares gained on Tuesday, led by a jump in retail stocks following record grocery sales in December, overshadowing risks arising from a fresh national lockdown imposed to curb the spread of a new COVID-19 variant.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said on Monday a new, more contagious variant of the coronavirus was spreading at great speed and immediate action was needed to slow it down. benchmark FTSE 100 index .FTSE gained 0.4%, with general retailers .FTNMX5370 and energy stocks .FTNMX0530 gaining between 2% and 3%.

December was the busiest month ever for British supermarkets as tightening COVID-19 restrictions and the closure of restaurants, bars and cafés meant shoppers spent 11.7 billion pounds ($15.9 billion) on groceries, industry data showed. Finance Minister Rishi Sunak's plans to offer further help to businesses struggling under the renewed COVID-19 restrictions also aided sentiment. mid-cap index .FTMC was up 0.1%.

Morrisons MRW.L , Britain's fourth-largest supermarket group, gained 0.2% after reporting a rise in underlying sales in its latest trading period encompassing Christmas.

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