- Banks gain after major lenders clear BoE's stress test
- ICAG, Bunzl fall after brokerage downgrades
- U.S. CPI data due 1230 GMT
- FTSE 100 up 0.8%, FTSE 250 adds 0.4%
July 12 (Reuters) - UK's FTSE 100 rose on Wednesday as British banks gained after successfully clearing the Bank of England's stress test and higher metal prices lifted mining stocks, while focus shifts to U.S. consumer prices data due later in the day.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 gained 0.8%, while the more domestically-focussed FTSE 250 midcap index added 0.4%.
The BoE said its annual stress test of eight major lenders showed that each could cope with rising interest rates in a stressed environment, and none would need to submit a revised capital plan. UK banks rose 1.6%.
Industrial metal miners gained 1.4% as prices of most base metals rose on a softer dollar.
Investor focus would remain on the U.S. consumer prices data, which is expected to show inflation eased to 3.1% on a yearly basis in June from 4% a month earlier.
"Inflation is proving to be fairly persistent and it is not going to immediately come back to where central banks need it to be," said Paul Danis, head of asset allocation at RBC Brewin Dolphin.
Central banks will have to maintain a hawkish policy stance in order to accomplish their inflation goal, Danis added.
Persistently high inflation and surging global interest rates have sent the internationally-focussed FTSE 100 down over 1% for the year so far, despite scaling record highs in February.
J D Wetherspoon jumped 7.9% after the pub group forecast its full-year profit to be in line with market estimates, betting on strong demand and a slight easing in energy costs.
Bunzl fell 2.2% after RBC downgraded the business supplies distributor to "underperform" from "sector perform".
International Consolidated Airlines Group S.A. fell 2.7% after Deutsche Bank downgraded the British Airways owner's stock to "hold" from "buy".
Centrica gained 3% after Morgan Stanley raised its price target on the British Gas owner's stock.
Reporting by Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee and Eileen Soreng
Source: Reuters