By Siddarth S and Shubham Batra
(Reuters) -UK’s FTSE 100 ended the week with gains on Friday as miners jumped following better-than-expected data from China, while the prospects of global central banks nearing the end of their monetary tightening further boosted risk sentiment.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 index climbed 0.5%, logging its highest weekly gain since Jan. 6 and hovering around its six-week high.
Tracking the metal prices higher, precious metal miners <.FTNMX551030> advanced 3.5%, while industrial metal miners rose 1.4%.
Data showed China’s factory output and retail sales grew at a faster pace in August, reflecting signs of stabilising parts in the wobbly economy.
“We believe the Chinese economy could gradually bottom out in the rest of this year amid a series of recent monetary and fiscal stimulus,” Jinyue Dong, senior economist at BBVA Research said in a note.
“But how to balance growth stimulus and financial stability, is always a constant challenging job for Chinese authorities going forward.”
Investors now await interest rate decisions by the U.S. Federal Reserve and the Bank of England next week after the European Central Bank hiked the key lending rate to a record 4% on Thursday, but signalled that the latest increase would likely be its last.
Traders see a 97% chance of the Fed holding rates steady in its Sept. 20 policy meeting, according to the CME FedWatch Tool.
However, the Bank of England is expected to hike rates by 25 basis points on Sept. 21 to its highest in more than 15 years, a Reuters poll of economists showed.
Mid-cap stocks fell 0.6%, led by a 10.2% drop in British power generator Drax Group.
Games Workshop Group surged 10.6% after the miniature wargame maker forecast higher quarterly pre-tax profit.
Real estate and real estate investment trusts shares declined more than 1% as gilt yields rose.
(Reporting by Siddarth S and Shubham Batra in Bengaluru; Editing by Sherry Jacob-Phillips and Dhanya Ann Thoppil)
