UK stocks rise as U.S. recession concerns recede

The blue-chip FTSE 100 added 0.5 per cent, with Sage Group climbing 5.1 per cent to the top of the index

British equities increased on Wednesday, led by financial and industrial stocks as strong U.S. data continued to calm worries about an economic slowdown, while software firm Sage climbed after a brokerage upgrade.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 added 0.5 per cent, with Sage Group climbing 5.1 per cent to the top of the index.

The stock reached an over 23-year high after JP Morgan upgraded the stock to "overweight", stating the company could push its revenue from back-office software automation.

Markets digested hawkish comments from BoE Governor Andrew Bailey, as he said last week's hike in interest rates mirrored a strong economy and surprisingly incessant inflation.

We are getting to a circumstance where inflation is close to getting ingrained and becoming a big concern for the country, said Daniela Hathorn, senior market analyst at Capital.com.

The remarks from central banks are going to be key this week, she said.

Aiding markets globally, economic data from U.S. on Tuesday helped ease concerns of an impending recession in the world's biggest economy.

Investment banks advanced 2 per cent, while construction stocks added 2.5 per cent.

Precious metal miners, nonetheless, dived 1 per cent as gold prices dropped.

In the meantime the domestically focussed FTSE 250 midcap index increased 2 per cent, its biggest one-day percentage gain in around five-months.

The FTSE 250 has been a prominent laggard, in terms of inflation figures and more widely, but people are trying to look within those indexes and see if there is things they want to own, said Andrew Jones, Portfolio Manager at Janus Handerson.

Nevertheless, the FTSE 100 was set to post a quarterly drop after two straight quarters of gains, due to stubborn inflation and high interest rates.