Last checked at 
* London bluechips, midcaps at strongest close since
early-March
* Resource stocks biggest boost to FTSE 100 on commodity
prices
* Travel stocks up on reports of alternate quarantine
measures
(Adds details, updates to close)
By Sagarika Jaisinghani and Ambar Warrick
June 2 (Reuters) - UK shares ended at near three-month highs
on Tuesday amid continued bets on government stimulus and easing
lockdowns helping a swifter economic recovery from the
coronavirus crisis.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 and the domestically-focused
mid-cap FTSE 250 each added 0.9%, with both indexes
ending at their highest levels since early-March.
A report suggesting further fiscal relief for local
businesses increased optimism, while investors continued to
watch for the British economy gradually emerging from the
coronavirus lockdown.
The FTSE 100 was propped up by resource heavyweights BP PLC
and BHP Group as commodity prices rose on the
prospect of increased demand and - in the case of oil- more OPEC
production cuts.
No immediate escalation in U.S.-China trade tensions also
helped the global sentiment, although concerns over Hong Kong
persisted.
"It seems that investors are more focused on the prospect of
a global economic recovery and barring any fresh and more
serious tensions between the U.S. and China, they may continue
to increase their risk exposures," said Charalambos Pissouros,
senior market analyst at JFD Group.
Optimism over the British government scaling back curbs on
social and business activity from June has driven gains in local
stocks for more than a week. Still, the immediate impact of the
COVID1-19 crisis continued to show in economic readings.
Data on Tuesday showed Britain's house prices crashed in
May, but there were early signs of activity picking up.
The UK travel index rose nearly 2% as a report
said the government was aiming to replace coronavirus quarantine
for people arriving at airports by the end of June, with
so-called air bridges being considered an option.
EasyJet rose 2.6%, while cruise operator Carnival
fell 1%, with both stocks likely to lose their place in
the FTSE 100 after the COVID-19 crisis knocked the value of
their shares to below the index's required threshold.
Greeting card retailer Card Factory signalled it
would reopen about 10% of its stores from June 15, but its
shares slipped 9% as it warned business would suffer from social
distancing.
(Reporting by Sagarika Jaisinghani in Bengaluru; Editing by
Arun Koyyur and Ed Osmond)
