Summary :
The blue-chip FTSE 100 (.FTSE) climbed 1.1% by 0721 GMT after hitting seven-week highs on Friday. HSBC (HSBA.L) jumped 5.9% after Europe’s biggest bank announced a higher profitability target and bullish dividend outlook and pushed back on a proposal by top shareholder Ping An Insurance Group Co of China (601318.SS) to split itself. The domestically focused midcap index (.FTMC) gained 1.6% after notching a seven-week top last week.
The British public’s expectations for inflation fell again in July, a survey showed, potentially adding to the case for the BoE to increase interest rates by only a quarter percentage point later this week.
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