Last checked at 
* FTSE 100, FTSE 250 up 0.3%
* China to reduce tariffs on some U.S. imports
* Royal Mail skids after trading update
* Beazley up on higher FY earnings
(Adds news items, analyst comments, updates share prices)
By Shashwat Awasthi
Feb 6 (Reuters) - UK shares advanced for a fourth straight
session on Thursday as risk sentiment picked up after China
pledged to halve tariffs on some U.S. imports, though Royal Mail
slid to an all-time low after warning of a challenging year
ahead.
China will cut additional tariffs levied against 1,717 U.S.
goods last year, after a Phase 1 trade deal was signed last
month, and as fears persist over the coronavirus outbreak, which
has killed more than 550 people.
The FTSE 100 rose 0.3%. The FTSE 250 added 0.4%, as
insurer Beazley gained 6% after its 2019 profit surged.
Royal Mail sank 8% after the letter carrier warned
outlook for the 2020-21 fiscal year was "challenging" and said
the threat of a labour strike in late 2019 hurt parcel revenue
growth during the Christmas period.
The company's strained relationship with the CWU union,
which has called for a strike ballot, "bodes ill for both
business as usual productivity improvements and reaping the
benefits of the medium-term strategy," Liberum analyst Gerald
Khoo wrote.
Global markets have been attempting a recovery after sharp
losses last week, and were given a shot in the arm on Wednesday
by media reports that scientists had developed a drug against
the China-linked virus.
Though the World Health Organisation played down the
reports, hopes that the outbreak would soon be contained as well
as upbeat economic data from the United States helped boost
stock bourses.
"The momentum is clearly with the bulls at the moment, and
we see no reason to stand against that tide," OANDA analyst
Jeffrey Halley said.
"The potential for an aggressive and rapid correction lower
still lurks though, if negative Wuhan virus headlines emerge,"
he warned, adding that economic data for January was yet to show
any severe spillover in growth from the virus.
GlaxoSmithKline slipped 3.6%, following a more than
4% drop in the previous session when its fourth-quarter earnings
missed analysts' estimates.
NMC Health, whose shares have been battered after
criticism from short-seller Muddy Waters late last year, was up
3% after soaring as much as 13% in early deals.
A Financial Times report https://www.ft.com/content/0cc7ce7e-481e-11ea-aee2-9ddbdc86190d
overnight said the company's founder was looking to return to
an "active leadership position".
(Reporting by Shashwat Awasthi in Bengaluru; Editing by Bernard
Orr)
