UPDATE 2-UK blue chips index gains for fourth day; Sainsbury surges

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* Sainsbury surges on raising full-year forecast
* Mining stocks rise the most on FTSE 100
* Ryanair slashes annual traffic forecast
* FTSE 100 up 0.2%, FTSE 250 adds 0.2%

(Updates to market close, adds analyst comments)
By Shashank Nayar and Shivani Kumaresan
Jan 7 (Reuters) - Britain's blue-chip FTSE 100 index ended
higher on Thursday as investors bet on a bigger U.S. stimulus
package under a Democrat administration, while retailer
Sainsbury jumped after raising its profit outlook.
The index .FTSE rose 0.2%, gaining for a fourth straight
day, with Sainsbury SBRY.L surging to the top.
Shares in the supermarket owner jumped 6.9% after it raised
its full-year profit forecast as it benefited from COVID-19
restrictions that forced people to stay at home. Materials stocks including Rio Tinto plc RIO.L , CRH Plc
CRH.L and Anglo American Plc AAL.L added between 2.7% and
3.6%.
The domestically focused mid-cap FTSE 250 .FTMC gained
0.2%.
"This is a kind of consolidation day today after a 4% move
yesterday and a lot of people are focused on the U.S. right
now," said Keith Temperton, a sales trader at Forte Securities.
"There is encouragement in terms of the outlook for the
market."
Hours after hundreds of President Donald Trump's supporters
stormed the U.S. Capitol, a shaken Congress formally certified
Democrat Joe Biden's election victory. Global equity markets gained in anticipation of big
borrowing and big spending under a Biden administration that
would help support economic growth at a time when the
coronavirus crisis continues to ravage several businesses
globally. MKTS/GLOB
Surging coronavirus cases and fears of a new wave of
corporate bankruptcies have ratcheted up concerns around the
economic damage from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Around 4,000 financial firms in Britain are at "heightened
risk" of collapsing due to fallout from the first wave of the
pandemic, the Financial Conduct Authority said.
London-listed shares in Europe's largest low-cost carrier,
Ryanair RYA.L , dropped 1.0% after it slashed its annual
traffic forecast due to new lockdowns in Britain and Ireland.
Fashion retailer Joules JOUL.L dropped 5.5% after
reporting a plunge in total store sales in a seven-week period
that included the Christmas holiday season.