London Stocks Surge Amid ECB Rate Cut Hopes

London stocks started the week strong, mirroring gains in Asia, as investors anticipate a rate cut by the European Central Bank (ECB). The FTSE 100 and FTSE 250 indices saw gains, while GSK shares dropped significantly due to legal issues. Investors await upcoming economic data and the Bank of England's rate decisions.

London stocks kicked off the week on a positive note, echoing counterparts in Asia, as investors anticipate a rate cut by the European Central Bank, while drugmaker GSK kept gains in check.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 index jumped 0.7% as of 7:10 GMT, while the mid-cap FTSE 250 gained 0.6%. Both the indexes were set to log three consecutive sessions of gains.

The European Central Bank (ECB) will meet later this week where investors expect it to trim borrowing costs by a quarter point. Analysts predict the Bank of England (BoE) to closely shadow the ECB's movements, positioning itself to quickly follow suit in initiating the rate-cutting cycle.

The BoE will meet two weeks from now to take a call on interest rates in Britain. Investors will also closely monitor a slew of economic data set to drop this week, including domestic manufacturing data for May due later in the day.

Among individual stocks, Hipgnosis Songs Fund gained 1% after Blackstone sweetened its offer for the music rights investor by a cent to $1.31 from $1.30 as part of a revised bid. GSK dropped 9.5% after a Delaware ruling allowed more than 70,000 lawsuits to proceed over its discontinued heartburn drug Zantac.

St. James's Place was the top gainer on the benchmark index, with a 5.6% jump, after JP Morgan upgraded its rating on the stock to "overweight" from "neutral".

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