BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - U.K. stocks were sharply higher on Tuesday after the Federal Reserve announced it will begin purchases of individual corporate bonds to help the world's largest economy battered by the coronavirus pandemic.
Sentiment was also bolstered following reports that the Trump administration is preparing a nearly $1 trillion infrastructure proposal as part of its push to spur the economy.
The benchmark FTSE 100 climbed 140 points, or 2.31 percent, to 6,204 after losing 0.7 percent the previous day.
TUI Group shares jumped 8 percent after the tour operator announced its plans to partially restart its Summer 2020 program with easing of travel restrictions in Europe.
easyJet rallied 7.8 percent. The budget airline said it would take delivery of 24 Airbus planes between 2025 and 2027.
Smith & Nephew rose over 2 percent. The medical equipment manufacturing company said its REGENETEN Bioinductive Implant has received CE Mark certification.
Industrial equipment rental company Ashtead Group jumped 8.2 percent. The company maintained its dividend despite reporting a sharp fall in its fourth-quarter profit.
Cineworld Group shares advanced 5.3 percent. The cinema operator plans to reopen cinemas across some territories during the last week of June, with all theatres expected to be open over the course of July.
In economic releases, the U.K. jobless rate was unchanged from the previous quarter, while earnings growth slowed sharply in the three months to April, when the economy entered a lockdown for a large part to slow the spread of the coronavirus, preliminary data from the Office for National Statistics showed.
The unemployment rate was 3.9 percent in the three months to April, which was unchanged from the previous quarter. A year ago, the unemployment rate was 3.8 percent.
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