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* Homebuilders gained 1.8%
* All eyes on U.S. inflation data later in the week
* IWG slumps after issuing profit warning
* FTSE 100 up 0.1%, FTSE 250 adds 0.3%
(Updates to close)
By Amal S
June 7 (Reuters) - London's FTSE 100 index climbed on
Monday, helped by gains in banking and homebuilders, while
office space provider IWG slumped to a four-month low after
issuing a profit warning.
The FTSE 100 ended up 0.1%, with banks stocks
, including Barclays PLC, Lloyds Banking
Group, and HSBC Holdings, among the top
gainers.
Homebuilders gained 1.8% with Bellway Plc
, Barratt Developments and Taylor Wimpey
jumping more than 1%.
The mid-cap FTSE 250 was up 0.3%, hovering just
below record highs.
After breaking above the 7,000 mark in mid-April, the
export-heavy FTSE 100 is on course to post its fifth straight
month of gains as a gradual reopening from COVID-19 lockdowns
sparks optimism around a faster economic recovery.
But with fears of rising inflation and new variants of the
novel coronavirus threatening the recovery, analysts said global
equity markets were at risk of a correction.
"Very quickly the issue of rising prices and their impact on
monetary policy could become front and centre again, after being
pushed to the back of the market's mind by a U.S. jobs report on
Friday," said Russ Mould, director at AJ Bell investment.
All eyes will be on U.S. inflation data for May, due on
Thursday, for cues on whether the Federal Reserve was likely to
start tightening monetary policy sooner than expected.
Mining stocks fell 2.1% and were the biggest
drag on the FTSE 100 index as data showed China's export growth
slowed more than expected last month due to disruptions caused
by COVID-19 cases at the country's major southern ports.
Office space provider IWG tumbled 10.3% marking its
worst day in more than a year, as it said underlying core
earnings for the current year would be well below the crisis-hit
2020 level due to continued lockdown restrictions in some
markets.
Carnival Corp gained 1.9% as the company said it
will restart its namesake cruise line trips from U.S. ports this
summer for fully vaccinated guests.
Life sciences company NetScientific Plc surged
91.7% after saying one of its subsidiaries had entered an
exclusive licensing agreement with AstraZeneca Plc to
globally sell a COVID-19 test.
(Reporting by Sagarika Jaisinghani and Amal S in Bengaluru and
Julien Ponthus in London; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu, Devika
Syamnath and Jane Merriman)
