Financials, miners lead FTSE 100 higher; Funding Circle slumps

Britain's FTSE 100 climbed on Tuesday, as investors shrugged off the implications of weak U.S. manufacturing data and concerns over Washington's trade deal with Beijing, while mid-cap Funding Circle tanked after cutting its revenue forecast. The FTSE 100 and the mid-cap FTSE 250 rose 0.2% by 0706 GMT.

In early deals, the main index was partly boosted by financial stocks, which advanced for a third straight session, while gains in miners also supported the blue-chip bourse. On the FTSE 250, Funding Circle plummeted 24% to an all-time low after it halved its 2019 revenue growth forecast due to reduced demand for loans from its peer-to-peer lending platform.

But online trading platform Plus500 jumped nearly 9% after posting higher second-quarter revenue, as signs of reduced levels of marketing across its peer group in part bumped up its customer numbers.