(For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock
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* London Stock Exchange rises on robust results
* Outsourcer Capita delivers upbeat revenue forecast
* UK house prices jump in July as demand grows
* FTSE 250 off 0.2%, FTSE 100 up 0.04%
(Updates to close)
By Shashank Nayar
Aug 6 (Reuters) - London's mid-cap FTSE 250 fell on Friday
as mining stocks took a hit from a slide in gold prices, taking
the shine off the third straight week of gains for UK stock
markets on the back of an upbeat corporate earnings season.
The domestically focussed FTSE 250 ended the session
down 0.2%, with precious metals miners sinking
2.3% as gold prices fell more than 2% following a robust U.S.
jobs report.
The blue-chip FTSE 100, on the other hand, posted
modest gains, boosted by a 5% jump for the London Stock Exchange
Group after it reported a higher revenue for the first
half of 2021.
"This year's IPO boom has helped boost the fortunes of the
London Stock Exchange Group," Susannah Streeter, senior analyst
at Hargreaves Lansdown, wrote.
"London may still pale in comparison to New York in the
scale of new listings, but it is making steady progress in
attracting bigger names."
The FTSE 100 index has bounced nearly 10% this year and, on
Friday, posted its best week since June on robust corporate
earnings and dovish central bank policies. But a spike in both
inflation and COVID-19 cases have raised worries about the
economic recovery.
Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey said on Friday
inflation could turn out lower than the central bank predicted
in its latest forecasts if production and supply problems caused
by the pandemic were fixed rapidly.
Data earlier in the day showed British house prices rose in
July after falling in the previous month as demand for bigger
homes helped to soften the impact of a reduced tax break for
buyers.
Homebuilding stocks rose 1.4%.
The FTSE aero, insurance and
energy indices were the best performers on the
week, rising between 4.2% and 8.2%.
Outsourcer Capita jumped 11.3% after it said it was
on track to deliver organic revenue growth in 2021 as it swung
to a first-half profit on strict cost controls and several new
contracts.
(Reporting by Shashank Nayar an Sagarika Jaisinghani in
Bengaluru; editing by Uttaresh.V and Andrew Heavens)