(For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock
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* Just Eat Takeaway.com slips as Uber Eats plans German
launch
* UK inflation edges up as COVID-19 price hit begins to ease
* UK home prices jump at fastest rate in six years in
February
* FTSE 100 up 0.6%, FTSE 250 slips 0.1%
(Updates to close)
By Devik Jain and Shashank Nayar
April 21 (Reuters) - London's FTSE 100 rose on Wednesday,
led by gains in AstraZeneca and energy heavyweights BP and Royal
Dutch Shell, while Just Eat Takeaway.com dropped following Uber
Eats' plan to foray into the German market.
Drugmaker AstraZeneca gained 1.7% and was the top
boost to the FTSE 100 after India's Serum Institute said it
would sell AstraZeneca vaccine to private hospitals at
$8/dose.
The blue-chip index rose 0.5%, with oil majors
and adding 1.4% and 1.2% respectively, after
Azerbaijan's energy ministry said BP's oil output was 5.9
million tonnes in the first quarter.
Meanwhile, traders assumed a rise in inflation in March
would have little impact on monetary policy after data showed
British consumer price inflation rose to 0.7% in March, while
prices charged by manufacturers rose by 1.9%, the highest in
nearly two years.
"For the Bank of England ... the fact that inflation is
likely to rise this year while the economic outlook is improving
suggests little imminent need to look at negative interest
rates," said James Smith, an economist at ING.
"The less exciting inflation story for 2022 suggests
policymakers will be in little rush to tighten policy, which we
don't expect to happen before 2023."
The FTSE 100 has gained 6.7% year-to-date on optimism about
a speedy economic recovery from the pandemic-driven recession,
although weighing on sentiment are concerns that central banks
would tighten monetary policy sooner than expected on prospects
of rising inflation.
British house prices rose at the fastest annual rate in more
than six years in February, data showed, pushing construction
and material stocks up 0.8%.
Just Eat Takeaway.com fell 2.7% after a media
report about rival Uber Eats' plan to start a food delivery
service in Germany, one of Just Eats’ most lucrative markets.
Entain gained 2.2% after BetMGM, a U.S. joint
venture with MGM Resorts, said it was targeting net
revenue of $1 billion in 2022.
(Reporting by Devik Jain in Bengaluru; editing by Uttaresh.V
and Elaine Hardcastle)
