Yahoo Finance FTSE up as King Charles leads Queen Elizabeth's procession through Edinburgh
European stocks tracked a bounce in global markets at the start of the week as Queen Elizabeth II's coffin is to lie in state in Edinburgh from 5pm UK time on Monday for 24 hours.
The King and other members of the royal family accompanied the Queen's coffin as it travels by procession to St Giles's Cathedral to allow the people of Scotland to pay their respects.
In London, the FTSE 100 (^FTSE) gained 1.6% at close, the CAC (^FCHI) was 1.9% higher in Paris, and the DAX (^GDAXI) jumped 2.3% in Frankfurt.
Retailers were the biggest winners on London's bluechip index, with Sainsbury's (SBRY.L) and B&Q owner Kingfisher (KGF.L) the biggest risers, up more than 4%. Tesco (TSCO.L) and JD Sports (JD.L) also rose.
The domestically-focused FTSE 250 (^FTMC) gained 1.2%, with Marks & Spencer (MKS.L) and ASOS (ASC.L) adding.
Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at online trading platform IG, said: "The rally in equities over the past week will have many scratching their heads, wondering why markets have been able to rebound despite the lack of news.
"But it is because there is so little in the way of big news that markets have recovered. It has allowed investors to focus on valuations, and put the rate hikes of the ECB and the Fed’s hawkish commentary behind them. The lack of earnings news too has made it easier for the FTSE 100 and others to bounce."
It comes as the UK economy rebounded in July, growing 0.2% in the month from a 0.6% contraction in June, figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed.
According to the ONS, the services sector was the biggest driving force behind the expansion, jumping 0.4%.
But the slower-than-expected rate of growth was impacted by higher prices as inflation jumped to a 40-year high of 10.1% in July, pushing Britain closer to a recession.
The bounce back comes after the Queen's Jubilee celebration Bank holiday impacted the key figure in June.
Read more: UK economy grows slower than expected as higher prices hit growth
Across the Atlantic, US benchmarks notched gains ahead of Tuesday's consumer prices data as traders watch for any signs that inflation is easing and hints about the Fed's plan for interest rates.
Wall Street’s S&P 500 (^GSPC) advanced 1%, the tech-heavy Nasdaq (^IXIC) added 1%, while the Dow Jones (^DJI) rose 0.8% at London's close.
Asian stocks were in the green overnight with the Nikkei (^N225) up 1.2% in Japan, while the Hang Seng (^HSI) closed 2.7% higher in Hong Kong and the Shanghai Composite (000001.SS) gained 0.8%.
