By Devik Jain
(Reuters) -British shares rose on Monday, with midcaps hitting a record high, as gains in industrials and consumer discretionary stocks underpinned the market, while shares of Equiniti Group jumped on a non-binding acquisition proposal.
The British outsourcer jumped 13.8% after U.S. private equity firm Siris Capital tabled a 624.3 million pounds ($864.59 million) bid in an all-cash deal.
The blue-chip index edged 0.1% higher in choppy trading, with gains being capped by a 0.8% decline in heavyweight energy shares as they tracked lower oil prices. [O/R]
AstraZeneca (NASDAQ:AZN) rose 0.4%, and was among the biggest boost to the FTSE 100 after the Philippines said it will resume administering drugmaker's COVID-19 vaccine to people below 60 years of age.
The domestically focussed mid-cap FTSE 250 index also gained 0.4% to touch a record high.
"Markets are back to being a bit dull for now but pretty buoyant," Deutsche Bank (DE:DBKGn) strategist Jim Reid wrote in a note.
"It's a lighter week ahead, with the main highlight likely to be at the end of the week with the flash PMIs for April ... And there'll be particular attention on the price gauges as well as investors stay attuned to any signs of growing inflationary pressures."
With the FTSE 100 gaining 8.7% year-to-date and UK vaccine rollout continuing to progress, markets will have a chance to gauge the impact on the economy as employment data, retail sales, CPI, PPI, and flash April PMIs are all due this week.
Meanwhile, homebuilders added 0.6% after property website Rightmove said advertised prices for homes in Britain hit a record high after finance minister Rishi Sunak stoked the market again by extending a tax-cut for home-buyers last month.
Johnson Matthey (LON:JMAT) rose 0.9% after the chemicals company signed a long-term agreement with Russian metals producer Nornickel for the supply of nickel and cobalt to produce materials used to make electric vehicle (EV) batteries.