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* Banks, miners and industrials lead gains on FTSE 100
* Ashmore drops as assets under management falls by $3.1
billion
* FTSE 100 up 0.5%, FTSE 250 adds 0.2%
(Updates to close)
By Devik Jain and Shashank Nayar
April 16 (Reuters) - London's FTSE 100 ended above the 7,000
mark on Friday for the first time since the pandemic pummelled
risk assets last year and gained for the second consecutive week
as falling coronavirus infections lifted optimism about a
stronger economic recovery.
The blue-chip index climbed 0.5%, led by gains in
precious metal and base metal miners
, which rose 1.7% and 0.7% respectively and
heavyweight banking stocks that stand to benefit
from an economic re-opening gained 1.7%.
“Value-style stocks offering jam today rather than jam
tomorrow have been in demand, as well as lots of companies well
placed to benefit from the reopening of the economy thanks to
the rollout of the COVID vaccines," said Russ Mould, investment
director at AJ Bell.
The prevalence of COVID-19 infections in England dropped
sharply to its lowest level since September, the Office for
National Statistics (ONS) said on Friday, further bolstering
sentiment towards a quicker revival.
The domestically focussed mid-cap FTSE 250 index
gained 0.2% for the third consecutive session to hit a fresh
record high.
Globally, sentiment was bolstered after a batch of Chinese
and U.S. economic data helped investors price in a solid
recovery from a coronavirus-led slump.
The FTSE 100 has bounced back nearly 40% from its pandemic
closing low in March and is nearly 8% away from its January 2020
high as investor confidence in a faster economic revival
strengthened on speedy vaccines and fiscal support.
Among other stocks, Man Group rose 0.5% after the
hedge fund manager said it expected customers to put in more
money in the coming quarters as client engagement was positive
this year.
Ashmore Group dropped 3.4% to the bottom of the
FTSE 250 index after its assets under management fell by $3.1
billion during the first three months of 2021, as market
volatility hurt performance.
(Reporting by Devik Jain in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu
Sahu, Uttaresh.V and Jonathan Oatis)
