Consumer staples, oil stocks pull FTSE 100 higher; Cineworld shines By Reuters

(Reuters) – London’s FTSE 100 edged higher on Monday after posting its second straight weekly drop, while Cineworld Group (LON:CINE) gained on reporting a strong weekend opening following a months-long lockdown in the UK.

The blue-chip index rose 0.1% with oil majors BP (LON:BP) and Royal Dutch Shell (LON:RDSa) and consumer staples stocks including Diageo (LON:DGE) providing the biggest boosts to the index.

The domestically focused mid-cap FTSE 250 index advanced 0.02%. Cineworld rose 2.4% after the world’s second-largest cinema chain said its UK cinemas pulled in more people than expected, helped by Sony Pictures’ animated adventure comedy “Peter Rabbit 2: The Runaway”.

Asian shares were mixed as investors awaited key U.S. inflation readings for guidance on monetary policy this week, where a high reading would ring alarms and could revive talk of an early tapering by the U.S. Federal Reserve. [MKTS/GLOB]

Kainos Group jumped 4.2% to the top of the FTSE 250 index after the digital services company posted a 124% rise in its annual adjusted pretax profit.