* FTSE 100 up 0.2%, FTSE 250 up 0.4%
* Miners lead gains on main board
* Just Eat biggest blue-chip gainer
* NMC underperforms
(Adds news items, updates to closing prices)
By Shashwat Awasthi and Safia Infant
Dec 27 (Reuters) - London's main index rose for the eleventh
straight session on Friday, as trade-sensitive stocks cheered
further positive signals from the United States and China over
signing a phase-one deal.
The FTSE 100 .FTSE , which is on its best run in three
years, gained 0.2%, supported by a near 2% rise in Glencore
GLEN.L . BP BP.L was also a major boost to the index and rose
1%, benefiting from higher crude prices.
Returning from their Christmas and Boxing Day break, traders
hailed comments from Beijing and Washington that signalled
official ratification of an initial trade deal was close.
However, a lack of further details meant that the bourse
settled for only a modest gain on the day, while trading volume
remained thin at the end of a holiday-shortened week.
The FTSE 250 .FTMC added 0.4% to scale a fresh record high
and sterling firmed after European Commission President Ursula
von der Leyen said the European Union may need to extend the
deadline for talks about a new trade relationship with Britain.
Fear of a chaotic Brexit, after Prime Minister Boris Johnson
set a hard deadline of Dec. 2020 for a deal, has sapped some
momentum from a rally in domestic stocks which was spurred by
his landslide election victory earlier this month.
Still, UK markets, in tandem with global peers, are ushering
in an upbeat end to the year, as broader worries around major
macro-economic events such as the U.S.-China trade war, British
politics and Brexit have receded recently.
This has increased investor appetite for risky assets like
stocks, with the blue-chip bourse on course for its best month
since April 2018 and its best annual performance since 2016.
The more domestically-focused midcaps are on track for best
month since January and their biggest yearly gain since 2013.
"A lot of excellent news is now priced into financial
markets across the globe, but top picking remains a dangerous
game; only for the brave and deep-pocketed," OANDA analyst
Jeffrey Halley said.
Food delivery firm Just Eat JE.L topped the main board
with a 2.4% rise after Britain's competition regulator said it
would launch an in-depth probe into Amazon's AMZN.O deal with
online food delivery group Deliveroo. NMC Health NMC.L fell 2.6%. The healthcare provider's
shares more than halved in value last week after short-seller
Muddy Waters criticised its financials, but shot up more than
36% on Monday after promising to review its books.
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European stocks in 2019 https://tmsnrt.rs/355xUcp
World stock markets in 2019 https://tmsnrt.rs/399IrGu
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