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* FTSE 100 up 1.3%, FTSE 250 adds 1.1%
June 1 (Reuters) - London-listed shares rose more than 1% on
Monday as retailers began reopening stores following a
months-long coronavirus-led lockdown, with Primark owner pushing
ahead to restart business at all of its England shops on June
15.
Associated British Foods, owner of the fashion
retailer, rose 3.1%, while the wider retailer index
added 1.0%. The blue-chip FTSE 100 jumped 1.3%.
The domestically focussed mid-cap index was also up
1.1%, building on a strong two-month rally that has been powered
by hopes the UK economy would rebound from a looming
coronavirus-fuelled global recession.
AstraZeneca Plc rose 1.9% and was the biggest boost
to the FTSE 100 after its and U.S. drugmaker Merck & Co Inc's
blockbuster cancer drug received a positive
recommendation from the European Medicines Agency (EMA) as a
maintenance treatment for a form of pancreatic cancer.
But Ted Baker slumped 23.7%. The fashion brand said
it would raise 95 million pounds ($117.84 million) through a
stock issue to help it ride out the coronavirus crisis, after
reporting a loss of 79.9 million pounds for the year to January.
(Reporting by Sagarika Jaisinghani in Bengaluru; Editing by
Bernard Orr)
