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* Premier Inn-owner expects travel to rebound
* THG slides 20% after trading update
* FTSE 100 up 0.8%, FTSE 250 adds 1.0%
(Updates to close)
By Bansari Mayur Kamdar and Amal S
Oct 26 (Reuters) - London's FTSE 100 rose for a third
straight session on Tuesday, boosted by consumer goods company
Reckitt Benckiser after it lifted its sales forecast, while the
global mood was buoyed by record highs on Wall Street indexes.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 index rose 0.8% to hit a
high since February 2020 after S&P 500 notched a record
high.
Lysol cleaning products maker Reckitt Benckiser
jumped 6.3% after it raised its full-year forecast as higher
sales of cold and flu remedies and price hikes helped it beat
analysts' estimates for third-quarter sales.
E-commerce group THG fell 20.5% after it posted a
mixed finiancial results and named an executive from backer
SoftBank to its board and is seeking an independent
chair.
Premier Inn-owner Whitbread climbed 4.4 after
reporting a much smaller half-year loss and saying that it
expected a full recovery by 2022.
While record-low interest rates and easing of pandemic
restrictions have aided FTSE 100's 12.4% recovery this year, the
index has underperformed its European and U.S. peers
due to a large presence of volatile commodity stocks.
"Strong corporate results are helping with sentiment.
Tomorrow's Budget in the UK and Thursday's European Central Bank
meeting may help return the wider economy to the forefront of
investors’ minds," said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ
Bell. "Whether this will be supportive or have a negative impact
on markets remains to be seen."
With expectations of an interest rate hike next month
running high, a Bank of England rate-setter Silvana Tenreyro
said on Monday she saw no urgency to raise rates, adopting a
different approach than Governor Andrew Bailey who signalled
last week that the BoE would act to contain inflation risks.
The domestically focussed mid-cap index advanced
1.0, helped by gains in consumer discretionary stocks.
IT services and consulting firm Softcat Plc slid
-1.4% after reporting full-year earnings.
BT gained 6.3% to the top of the FTSE 100 index on
reports that the company has hired boutique advisory group Robey
Warshaw to strengthen its defences against a possible takeover
bid.
Meanwhile, Entain fell 6.2% after betting firm
DraftKings walked away from a $22 billion attempt to
buy the gambling group.
(Reporting by Bansari Mayur Kamdar and Amal S; Editing by
Subhranshu Sahu and Uttaresh.V and Angus MacSwan)
