London stocks kick start week higher; Ascential jumps

The UK’s FTSE 100 inched higher on Monday supported by gains in mining stocks, while information and analytics firm Ascential (LON:ASCL) led midcap stocks higher after announcing a $1.70 billion deal for selling its units.

The commodity-focused FTSE 100 was up 0.9% at 08:16 GMT, while the mid-cap FTSE 250 moved 0.8% higher.

Most base metals prices rose as stimulus measures from top consumer China boosted sentiment, taking the industrial metal miners index up by 1.1%.

Ascential soared 34.6% to the top of FTSE 250, after it announced sale of its digital commerce and consumer research units for a combined enterprise value of 1.4 billion pounds ($1.70 billion).

Investors will closely monitor the Bank of England’s monetary policy meeting due on Thursday, where the central bank is most likely expected to hold interest rates at a 15-year high of 5.25%.

Meanwhile, data showed Britain’s jobs market is showing more signs of cooling with online vacancies and pay offers falling.