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* Sainsbury's jumps on takeover talks
* easyJet up on naming former RBS chief as chair designate
* UK PMIs show slowdown in business activity in August
* FTSE 100 up 0.3%, FTSE 250 off 0.04%
(Updates to close)
By Shashank Nayar and Amal S
Aug 23 (Reuters) - London's FTSE 100 ended higher on Monday
after recording its worst week since February, as heavyweight
energy and mining stocks jumped, while a drop in business
activity raised worries of slower economic growth.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 rose 0.3% with energy shares
and miners leading the gains, both
up 2.2% and 1.3% respectively.
Oil majors BP, Royal Dutch Shell were among
the top gainers as crude prices rebounded from a seven-day
losing streak.
British supermarket group Sainsbury's jumped 15.4%
to the top of the FTSE 100 on reports that private equity
companies were circling with a view to possibly launching bids
of more than 7 billion pounds ($9.53 billion).
"The takeover chatter helps underling appeal of the UK
supermarket sector to overseas bidders, following the battle for
Morrisons, but further transactions could raise questions about
having such key components of the country's food security in the
hands of overseas private equity firms," said Danni Hewson,
financial analyst at AJ Bell.
Strong commodity prices and dovish central bank policies
have helped the FTSE 100 gain 10% so far this year, with the
index set to end its first month above the 7,100-mark since
January this year. However, surging COVID-19 cases and concerns
of a slowing economy have also weighed on markets.
Britain's post-lockdown economic bounce-back slowed sharply
in August as companies struggled with unprecedented shortages of
staff and materials, but strong inflation pressures cooled a
bit, a survey showed.
The flash reading of the PMI index showed UK business
activity slowed in August. It stayed above the 50-mark,
indicating that UK business activity was continuing to expand,
just at a slower pace than the previous month.
Pharmaceutical sector was the biggest drag
weighed by AstraZeneca, down 1.2%, after the U.S. FDA
gave full approval to its peer Pfizer Inc's COVID-19
vaccine for use in people over the age of 16.
The domestically focused mid-cap index inched 0.04%
lower, weighed down by real estate stocks.
? Among stocks, British airline easyJet gained 0.2%
after it named former RBS Chief Executive Officer Stephen Hester
as its chair designate.
(Reporting by Shashank Nayar and Amal S in Bengaluru; Editing
by Subhranshu Sahu, Uttaresh.V and Alison Williams)
