March 11 (Reuters) - British shares rose on Thursday, as higher commodity prices boosted mining and energy stocks after the United States moved to pass a massive stimulus bill, while online trading platform IG jumped on a surge in third-quarter revenue.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 index rose 0.4%, with mining stocks, including Rio Tinto, Anglo American and BHP Group, gaining between 1.2% and 2.6%.
Oil heavyweights BP and Royal Dutch Shell were also among the biggest boosts as oil prices rose.
The U.S. House of Representatives gave final approval on Wednesday to one of the largest economic stimulus measures in American history, a sweeping $1.9 trillion COVID-19 relief bill.
The slow start to 2021 for Britain’s housing market stretched into February, before Finance Minister Rishi Sunak announced new measures that could revive a property boom that began after the first COVID lockdown last year, a survey showed.
The domestically focused mid-cap FTSE 250 index rose 0.6%, led by industrials stocks.
Supermarket group Morrisons fell 0.2%, after its annual profit halved as a COVID-19-related jump in sales was more than offset by the huge extra costs of the crisis. [nL8N2L91L1
IG Group rose 4.4%, after a surge in third-quarter revenue despite a tough comparative, driven by high levels of trading during the period that saw a so-called retail frenzy in financial markets.
Reporting by Shivani Kumaresan in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich
Source: Reuters