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* FTSE 100 up 0.2%, FTSE 250 adds 0.1%
Oct 29 (Reuters) - London's FTSE 100 inched higher on
Thursday after a three-day selloff as Lloyds Bank and Royal
Dutch Shell posted upbeat earnings, although gains were capped
by concerns over surging COVID-19 cases and as a stronger pound
pressured exporters.
The export-heavy FTSE 100 index .FTSE climbed 0.2% with
oil major Royal Dutch Shell Plc RDSa.L jumping 3% after
posting a higher-than-expected quarterly profit and increasing
its dividend.
The domestically focussed mid-cap FTSE 250 .FTMC added
0.1% after housing minister Robert Jenrick said on Thursday a
second national lockdown in Britain was not inevitable, even as
a study by Imperial College showed England's COVID-19 infections
doubled every nine days. Both the indexes suffered their biggest one-day decline in
more than five weeks in the previous session amid a sharp
selloff in Europe as Germany and France introduced new
lockdowns.
Lloyds Banking Group Plc LLOY.L added 2.5% after the
domestic lender posted a forecast-beating quarterly profit,
boosted by a home-loan lending boom.