FTSE 100 rises on commodity stocks, jobs data boost; Oxford Biomedica jumps

London's FTSE 100 climbed on Tuesday, on gains in heavyweight mining and energy stocks, while a better-than-expected jobs data strengthened views of a stronger economic recovery from a pandemic-driven crash last year. The domestically focussed mid-cap FTSE 250 index advanced 0.8%. Official data showed Britain's unemployment rate unexpectedly fell again to 4.8% between January and March, compared with a forecast of 4.9%.

London's FTSE 100 climbed on Tuesday, on gains in heavyweight mining and energy stocks, while a better-than-expected jobs data strengthened views of a stronger economic recovery from a pandemic-driven crash last year. The blue-chip index rose 0.8%, with miners jumping 2% as they tracked higher copper and zinc prices.

Oil majors BP and Royal Dutch Shell, and banking stocks gained more than 1% each. The domestically focussed mid-cap FTSE 250 index advanced 0.8%.

Official data showed Britain's unemployment rate unexpectedly fell again to 4.8% between January and March, compared with a forecast of 4.9%. Separate data for April also showed a further improvement in the labor market, with the number of employees on company payrolls in Britain increasing by 97,000 as companies adjusted to the lifting of coronavirus restrictions.

Oxford Biomedica surged 8% after it doubled the revenue expectation from its COVID-19 vaccine supply deal with drugmaker AstraZeneca.

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