BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - U.K. stocks rallied on Tuesday as traders returned to their desks after a long holiday weekend.
The benchmark FTSE 100 was up 94 points, or 1.3 percent, at 7,478, catching up with a global rally on hopes that the Omicron coronavirus variant will have only a limited impact on the global economic recovery.
Britain's vaccine minister said people being hospitalized with Covid-19 in the United Kingdom were broadly showing less severe symptoms than before.
Investors also cheered data from the British Retail Consortium showing that U.K. shop prices grew at a faster pace in December.
Shop prices climbed 0.8 percent on a yearly basis in December, following a 0.3 percent gain in November, which was the first rise in two-and-a-half years.
Food prices rose at a faster pace of 2.4 percent driven by the sharp growth in fresh food prices. Meanwhile, non-food prices dropped 0.2 percent.
Capita Plc shares advanced 1.2 percent. The BPO company said that it completed on 3rd January, the sale of its Secure Solutions and Services (SSS) business to NEC Software Solutions U.K. for a consideration of 62 million pounds.
Wizz Air Holdings soared nearly 19 percent. The low-cost airline reported that it carried 2.64 million passengers in the month of December 2021, up 296.3 percent from 665,722 passengers a year ago. British Airways-owner IAG jumped 10 percent.
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