BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - U.K. stocks advanced on Tuesday as hopes of economic recovery helped offset jitters over increasingly violent social unrest in the U.S. and rising U.S.-China tensions.
Investors brushed off data from the Nationwide Building Society showing that U.K. house prices declined at the fastest pace since 2009 in May.
House prices fell 1.7 percent month-on-month in May, in contrast to a 0.9 percent rise in April as the impact of the coronavirus pandemic filtered through the property market. This was the biggest fall since February 2009. Economists had forecast a fall of 1 percent.
On a yearly basis, house prices grew 1.8 percent in May, much slower than the 3.7 percent rise in April and economists' forecast of 2.8 percent increase.
Separately, U.K. mortgage approvals declined sharply in April amid coronavirus pandemic, data from the Bank of England showed.
The number of mortgage approvals plunged to 15,848 in April from 56,136 in March. Approvals were forecast to fall to 23,780.
The benchmark FTSE 100 rose by 37 points, or 0.61 percent, to 6,203 after rising 1.5 percent the previous day.
Tesco shares fell 2 percent. Chief Financial Officer Alan Stewart plans to step down next year, extending a management overhaul at the U.K.'s largest supermarket.
Hospital operator Mediclinic advanced 1.5 percent despite posting a net loss of 315 million pounds ($394 million) for fiscal year 2019/2020.
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