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* Consumer spending hit in February
* TP ICAP falls on downbeat outlook
* IWG slumps on slow recovery
* FTSE 100 up 0.2%, FTSE 250 adds 0.8%
(Updates to close)
By Shivani Kumaresan and Amal S
March 9 (Reuters) - London's FTSE 100 ended higher on
Tuesday thanks to strength in industrials and other defensive
sectors, although broader gains were capped by weakness in
mining stocks due to a drop in metal prices.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 index .FTSE finished up 0.2%, with
industrial stocks and defensive plays rising as investors bet on
them benefiting the most from an economic reopening once the
coronavirus pandemic recedes.
Mining stocks, including Rio Tinto RIO.L , Anglo American
AAL.L and BHP BHPB.L , were among the biggest laggards,
falling between 2.4% and 4.4%. MET/L
"Yesterday the market had huge gains. It's hard for the
market to maintain explosive gains without a good reason and
arguably today they don't have a good one and there is a bit of
caution around the bond yield issue," said Connor Campbell,
analyst at Spreadex.
"The strong start of the week can be undone, especially as
the week goes on as we have U.S. inflation numbers and ECB
monetary policy statement on focus, which potentially is going
to cause the bond yield issue to come to the forefront once
again."
A raft of global stimulus measures and optimism around
vaccine rollouts have helped the FTSE 100 rebound more than 37%
from a coronavirus-driven crash last year, but investors are
cautious after Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey expressed
concerns on Monday about a possible rise in inflation.
British consumers cut back heavily on spending as they
weathered a second month in a COVID-19 lockdown in February, but
confidence in the economy hit a 12-month high, payment card firm
Barclaycard said. The domestically focused mid-cap FTSE 250 index .FTMC rose
0.8%, led by industrials and consumer discretionary stocks.
The world's largest inter-dealer broker, TP ICAP Plc
TCAPI.L , fell 5.3% after it halved its dividend citing a
one-off reduction, and said first-quarter revenue might be lower
compared to 2020. Office space provider IWG IWG.L tumbled 4.4%, after saying
it will shut more underperforming centres as the market recovery
from the pandemic is taking longer than anticipated.