BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - U.K. stocks rose modestly on Tuesday and the pound recovered some lost ground as Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey downplayed the prospect of negative interest rates in the future.
As escalating Covid-19 cases threaten the economic outlook, the central bank was looking hard at how it could support the economy further, Bailey said in a British Chambers of Commerce webinar.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson will outline new lockdown restrictions later today to fight the second wave of coronavirus.
The benchmark FTSE 100 edged up 0.4 percent to 5,825 after tumbling 3.4 percent on Monday.
Banks traded mixed, with HSBC trading modestly lower while Standard Chartered rose half a percent.
Travel-related stocks extended losses from the previous session, with British Airways owner International Airlines Group falling nearly 5 percent.
Whitbread tumbled 3.3 percent as it announced thousands of job cut across its Premier Inns, Beefeater and Brewers Fayre sites.
Beazley slumped as much as 12 percent after saying it expects claims linked to the novel coronavirus pandemic to double to $340 million.
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