UK's FTSE 100 ends marginally higher as bond yields resume their rise

May 19 (Reuters) - UK's blue-chip ​FTSE 100 ⁠ended slightly higher on Tuesday as ​the global move higher in government bond yields hit sentiment, overshadowing optimism stemming from labour market data ​that ‌eased worries of an immediate rate hike.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 index closed 0.1% higher at 10,330.5 ⁠points after rising as much as 0.8% ⁠earlier in the day. The midcap ​FTSE 250 reversed its initial gains to fall 0.2%.

* Data showed Britain's employers reined in their hiring and posted fewer job vacancies in April, prompting investors to cut their ​bets on ‌Bank of England interest rate hikes.

* "For the MPC, this sharpens the policy tension: while energy-driven inflation risks dominate near term, the labour market backdrop is already loosening, increasing the risk that policy remains too tight and entrenches unnecessary weakness," said ​Jefferies economist Modupe Adegbembo.

* Traders expect a 29.1% chance of a rate hike ‌at the June meeting, according to data compiled by LSEG.

* Long-dated government bond yields resumed their uptrend on Tuesday as ‌the inflationary impact of the Iran war unsettled investors.

* Yield on both the 10-year gilt and the 30-year gilt were higher on the day after inching lower in the ​last session.

* Most FTSE 350 sectors trended higher, with medical equipment and services and personal goods among ‌the top gainers.

* A drop in metal prices hit miners listed in the UK, with the sector for precious metal miners sliding 3.7%, and industrial metal miners ⁠down 2.7%.

* ⁠Meanwhile, political uncertainty still remained in focus as Keir ‌Starmer earlier this week reiterated that he would remain at the helm, but several of his Labour ​Party's lawmakers have called ​for him to quit.

* Among single stocks, IG ‌Group rose 10.5%, the biggest gainer on the FTSE 100, after it raised its annual and medium-term revenue forecasts for the second time this year. (Reporting by Niket Nishant and Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore)

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