Stimulus hopes lift FTSE 100; financials, industrials gain

By Sagarika Jaisinghani

(Reuters) - London's FTSE 100 rose on Monday, led by financial and industrials stocks, on bets that central banks would keep monetary policy loose amid signs of a sharp slowdown in the global economic rebound.

The export-heavy FTSE 100 closed the session up 0.7%, with personal goods and industrial services stocks jumping 1.9% and 1.7%, respectively.

The FTSE 100 had ended last week essentially flat as macroeconomic data suggested Britain's recovery from the pandemic lost more momentum in August, a trend that was mirrored across the Atlantic with a dismal U.S. jobs report. [.N]

On Monday, global shares posted their longest winning streak in three months, aided by hopes U.S. interest rates would stay low for longer, although a stock market holiday in the United States kept a lid on volumes. [MKTS/GLOB]

"The shockwaves are still reverberating from the sickly U.S. jobs numbers on Friday, but the markets (now) appear to be taking the positives from the news," said AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.

"The U.S. Federal Reserve has consistently reiterated that its decision making will be heavily led by the unemployment situation and therefore a weakening in the labour market could see it hold off on tapering its support for the economy for a bit longer."

All eyes this week will be on the European Central Bank's policy meeting, where the central bank is expected to debate tapering its own stimulus.

The more domestically focused mid-cap FTSE 250 underperformed regional peers as data showed new car registrations in Britain fell 22% year-on-year in August.

Energy stocks were also weighed down by a slip in oil prices. [O/R]

In thin company news, Irish airline Ryanair's London-listed shares rose 2.1% as the company said it had ended talks with Boeing on a major new order for Boeing 737 jets due to a disagreement over pricing.

(Reporting by Sagarika Jaisinghani in Bengaluru; Editing by Uttaresh.V and Alex Richardson)