Dec 21 (Reuters) – Britain's main stock indexes jumped on Wednesday after upbeat earnings from Nike lifted Wall Street and offset worries about the British economy after data showed public borrowing hit a November record.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 (.FTSE) rose 1.7% at the session's close and the midcap FTSE 250 (.FTMC) added 1.7%. Both the indexes marked their biggest percentage gains in more than six weeks.
U.S. stocks rallied after Nike Inc (NKE.N) reported better-than-expected quarterly results, sparking a 6.1% gain in Britain's sportswear firm JD Sports Fashion (JD.L).
"It seems like yesterday we broke the four-day losing streak in the U.S. and that has translated into some positive sentiment into Europe as well," said Daniela Hathron, senior market analyst at Capital.com.
"It's a quiet week in the market because of the holidays coming up. We are seeing potentially reduced volumes in the market."
Meanwhile, sterling slipped 1.0% against the dollar after data showed British public borrowing hit a November record, underscoring the challenges for the UK economy.
"As the UK economy heads towards a recession, the public purse could suffer a slowdown in tax revenue as businesses and consumers decelerate, which could result in higher public sector borrowing," said Victoria Scholar, head of investment at interactive investor.
Energy stocks (.FTNMX601010) were among the top gainers, rising 2.3% as oil prices climbed more than $2 a barrel on a drawdown in U.S. crude stockpiles.
The commodity-heavy FTSE 100 has fared better than its global peers year-to-date, with the index set for gains of 1.5%, while the continent-wide STOXX 600 (.STOXX) and the S&P 500 (.SPX) are down 11.6% and 18.5%, respectively.
Among single stocks, Carnival Corp (CCL.L) rose 4.0% after the cruise operator posted a smaller-than-expected quarterly loss.
Directa Plus (DCTA.L) rose 3.8% after the graphene-based product maker signed an exclusive agreement with Pigmentsolution, a European distributor of speciality chemicals and ingredients.
($1 = 0.8229 pounds)
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