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* Potential Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine news helps gains
* U.S. health panel votes in favour of GSK's blood cancer
drug
* HSBC, Standard Chartered lag on Hong Kong tensions
* ASOS jumps, Burberry slumps on mixed earnings updates
(Updates to close)
By Shashank Nayar and Ambar Warrick
July 15 (Reuters) - British stocks rose on Wednesday as
signs of progress in developing a COVID-19 vaccine bolstered
hopes of a swift post-pandemic economic rebound, while major
healthcare stocks propped up the blue-chip index.
The FTSE 100 ended up 1.8%, while midcaps
added 1.4% after Moderna Inc's experimental vaccine for
COVID-19 showed it was safe and provoked immune responses in an
early-stage study.
Reports of potential positive news on initial trials of the
University of Oxford's COVID-19 vaccine, which has been licensed
to AstraZeneca, also propped up markets. AstraZenca was
the biggest boost to the blue-chip index.
GlaxoSmithKline added 2.9% after an independent
panel to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration voted in favour
of approving the drugmaker's experimental treatment for a common
form of blood cancer.
"News on the COVID-19 vaccine development has provided a
required shot in the arm to markets (and) we also see sentiment
improving on (a pickup in) consumer spending across the United
States and Europe," said Patrik Lang, head of equity and global
strategy at Julius Baer.
UK stock markets have struggled this month to build on a
sharp rebound since a coronavirus-driven slump in March, as a
surge in global infections and building U.S.-China tensions
dented demand for riskier assets.
The focus now turns to the second-quarter earnings season,
as investors look to corporate guidance on how a
post-coronavirus recovery may play out.
Hong Kong-focused lenders HSBC Holdings Plc and
Standard Chartered lagged broader gains after U.S.
President Donald Trump ordered an end to the former British
colony's special status under U.S. law, prompting a warning from
China.
In a mixed bag of quarterly earnings updates, online fashion
retailer ASOS jumped 3.4% on posting a sales bump
through the coronavirus lockdown, while Burberry
slumped 5.6% as it said demand had been severely impacted by the
pandemic.
(Reporting by Shashank Nayar in Bengaluru; Additional reporting
by Sagarika Jaisinghani; Editing by Shailesh Kuber and Catherine
Evans)
