UPDATE 1-FTSE tracks global recovery; miners, Hargreaves lead

Mining stocks led gains on London's main index on Thursday after a round of Chinese data soothed some global growth fears and nickel prices jumped amid supply worries, while Hargreaves Lansdown advanced after strong annual results. The FTSE 100, which has fallen almost 5% since President Donald Trump said he would slap tariffs on more Chinese imports last week, recovered for the second session running and inched 0.2% higher.

The more domestically focused midcap index rose 0.5% by 0743 GMT, as the pound clawed back some of its recent losses that were spurred by worries over a no-deal Brexit. "For this rebound to gain further momentum, we would need to see evidence of a softening of the rhetoric around trade, and a willingness on the part of both parties to dial back their current positions," CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson said.

Fund supermarket Hargreaves Lansdown, whose shares took a beating in June as nearly a quarter of its clients were exposed to Neil Woodford's suspended fund, advanced nearly 6% after a forecast-beating rise in full-year assets. "We think Hargreaves Lansdown has likely successfully defended its reputation with consumers," Jefferies analysts wrote.

Mining stocks, which have been hit by U.S.-China trade tensions, snapped seven straight days of losses as nickel prices jumped amid worries that major supplier Indonesia could soon ban ore exports. Gains in the blue-chip index were kept in check by a 5.5% drop in telecom giant BT and a near 3% fall in Lloyds, Britain's biggest mortgage lender, as the stocks traded ex-dividend.

On the mid-cap index, motor insurer Hastings slid 5.8% to an eight-month low after its first-half profit missed market expectations.

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)