UPDATE 1-Travel groups support British stocks; TUI, easyJet top gainers

British stocks rose on Monday as strong economic data from the United States and China boosted investor confidence, while travel companies TUI and easyJet benefited from rising demand for holidays beyond the European Union.

The FTSE was fractionally higher by 0855 GMT. The midcaps were 0.3 per cent higher, gaining on the strength in the local currency. Travel groups climbed to the top of the FTSE 100 as British holidaymakers drove demand for destinations further afield given the contortions over Brexit.

EasyJet jumped 2.3 per cent, while British Airways owner IAG and London-listed shares of German tour operator TUI both rose. The world's oldest travel group, Thomas Cook, added 2.3 per cent on the small-cap index.

"US GDP has bolstered risk appetite, and the banking numbers out of the UK have been solid thus far, on hopes that growth is looking better around the globe," IG Markets analyst Chris Beauchamp said. Gains on the FTSE 100 were spread across financials, industrials and healthcare stocks.

However, export-heavy stocks including Diageo, Unilever and Reckitt Benckiser lost ground with the pound strengthening as markets awaited the outcome of talks between the government and the opposition Labour party to try to break the Brexit deadlock. Online supermarket Ocado's shares were down 1.4 per cent, after falling as much as 5.4 per cent, as it disclosed that an electrical fault caused a blaze at a major distribution centre earlier this year.

Among midcaps, Ferrexpo jumped 5.7 per cent with a trader saying that markets focused on the positive comments on the miner's performance over the ongoing scrutiny of the use of funds at a charity partner.