By Khushi Singh and and Shashwat Chauhan
(Reuters) -The UK’s FTSE 100 edged higher on Monday supported by gains in energy stocks, while a jump in software firm Ocado Group offset losses in travel stocks as airlines lost ground after Ryanair flagged travel demand concerns.
The exporter-heavy FTSE 100 was up 0.2%, while the more domestically-focused FTSE 250 midcap index shed 0.3%.
Ocado Group jumped 14.3% after the online supermarket group and Norwegian robotics firm AutoStore reached a deal to settle patent litigation claims.
The travel and leisure sector lost 0.8% after Ryanair flagged caution around travel demand for the rest of the year as the industry bellwether cut its passenger growth forecast.
The airline was down 6.1% while peers Easyjet and Wizz Air Holdings were down 4.4% and 6.4%, respectively.
Heavyweight energy stocks gained 1.3% tracking higher crude prices, while industrial metal miners rose 0.8% on an anticipated stimulus from China. [O/R] [MET/L]
Meanwhile, a survey showed Britain’s private sector is growing at its weakest pace in six months in July as orders for businesses stagnate in the face of rising interest rates and still-high inflation.
“The good news from this otherwise somewhat depressing data is that the evidence of disinflation in the UK continues to gather,” said Elizabeth Martins, senior economist at HSBC Global Research, in a note.
“With the two most important data points sending divergent messages – higher wages and lower inflation – it makes for a tough decision for Bank of England.”
Following this data, sterling and British government bond yields fell as investors trimmed expectations for steep interest rate hikes but still see the UK central bank hiking rates by 25 bps next week.
Vodafone Group rose 4.1% after the company reported an acceleration in first-quarter revenue growth and said it appointed former SAP CFO Luka Mucic as its new finance chief.
Martin Sorrell’s S4 Capital tumbled 21.2% after the company cut its annual revenue and margin outlook.
(Reporting by Shashwat Chauhan and Khushi Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Dhanya Ann Thoppil, Sonia Cheema and Sharon Singleton)
