FTSE 100 at three-month highs on hopes of China easing COVID curbs

The commodity-heavy FTSE 100 rose on Tuesday, with energy and mining stocks leading the rally and mirroring global gains as the possibility of less stringent COVID curbs in China helped lift investor sentiment. The blue-chip FTSE 100 was up 0.6%, hitting its highest since Aug. 26, while the domestically-focused FTSE 250 midcap index was flat.

The commodity-heavy FTSE 100 rose on Tuesday, with energy and mining stocks leading the rally and mirroring global gains as the possibility of less stringent COVID curbs in China helped lift investor sentiment.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 was up 0.6%, hitting its highest since Aug. 26, while the domestically-focused FTSE 250 midcap index was flat. World markets were rattled on Monday as protests against strict COVID-19 restrictions flared up in major Chinese cities over the weekend. Officials have come out with efforts to address the rising dissent, saying it will speed up COVID-19 vaccinations for elderly people.

"It's a step in the right direction towards reopening the Chinese economy and trying to get out of this endless (cycle) of opening up and then clamping down," said Stuart Cole, head macro-economist at Equiti Capital. "So, the good news coming out of China combined with the better sentiment we had been previously seeing has enabled the markets to largely take back some of the velocity it had seen yesterday."

British markets have sharply recovered from their October lows, when a bungled mini-budget sent markets into a tailspin, as new leadership tries to restore investor confidence in the economy amid surging inflation and a severe cost-of-living crisis. Base metal miners climbed 2.8%, touching three-month highs, as prices rebounded on support for the property sector in top metals consumer China.

Heavyweight energy stocks rose 1.4% as oil prices climbed on hopes of China easing its COVID controls. Among single stocks, easyJet fell 4.9% after the airline reported a full-year loss.

Asset Manager Record PLC gained 8.3% after reporting a higher first-half pre-tax profit.