Resource stocks lead the gains in London, while some hospitality names gain on prospects of COVID aid

By Barbara Kollmeyer

London stocks rebounded from what was the worst session since the emergence of the omicron variant last month, driven by gains for resource stocks and some help from hospitality names after the U.K. government announced an aid plan.

The FTSE 100 /zigman2/quotes/210598409/delayed UK:UKX +1.19% rose 1% to 7,276, following a near 1% drop on Monday, which was in step with a global market selloff. The pound /zigman2/quotes/210561263/realtime/sampled GBPUSD -0.0240% rose 0.1% against the dollar at $1.3235.

Shares of Wagamama owner The Restaurant Group /zigman2/quotes/207518837/delayed UK:RTN +3.50% surged 5%, while pub chain J D Wetherspoon /zigman2/quotes/209658419/delayed UK:JDW +2.09% climbed 2.9%, while brewer Mitchells & Butlers /zigman2/quotes/209008939/delayed UK:MAB -1.57% rose 2%.

Read: European gas futures surge at least 15% as Russia blamed for withholding gas deliveries

Those gains came after the U.K. offered grants worth 1 billion pounds ($1.3 billion) to help the hospitality industry confront the omicron variant of COVID-19. Local governments will get an extra 100 million pounds to support businesses.

While COVID-19 cases in the U.K. and elsewhere, markets were driven by some optimism after the administration of President Joe Biden announced measures to combat the virus, such as 500 million free rapid tests to be distributed to Americans.

Resource stocks rose on a reversal of Monday’s losses, with a 2% gain in U.S. /zigman2/quotes/209723049/delayed CL00 +0.06% and Brent oil prices driving up energy names, such as heavily weighted BP /zigman2/quotes/207305210/composite BP +0.81% /zigman2/quotes/202286639/delayed UK:BP +1.09% and Royal Dutch Shell by more than 2% each.

Mining stocks also helped prop up the main index, with shares of Glencore /zigman2/quotes/201400686/delayed UK:GLEN -0.12% and Rio Tinto /zigman2/quotes/202627887/composite RIO +2.37% /zigman2/quotes/208934945/delayed UK:RIO +1.91% up more than 3% each.

/zigman2/quotes/210598409/delayed

Add to watchlist UK:UKX

FTSE 100 Index

UK : FTSE UK

7,389.98

+87.24 +1.19%

Volume: 722,321

May 20, 2022 4:56p

/zigman2/quotes/210561263/realtime/sampled

Add to watchlist GBPUSD

British Pound

US : Tullett Prebon

1.2489

-0.0003 -0.0240%

Volume: 0.0000

May 20, 2022 4:59p

/zigman2/quotes/207518837/delayed

Add to watchlist UK:RTN

Restaurant Group PLC

UK : U.K.: London

53.20 p

+1.80 +3.50%

Volume: 1.52M

May 20, 2022 4:35p

P/E Ratio

N/A

Dividend Yield

0.00%

Market Cap

£406.66 million

Rev. per Employee

£39,233

/zigman2/quotes/209658419/delayed

Add to watchlist UK:JDW

J.D. Wetherspoon PLC

UK : U.K.: London

708.50 p

+14.50 +2.09%

Volume: 171,178

May 20, 2022 4:35p

P/E Ratio

N/A

Dividend Yield

0.00%

Market Cap

£899.15 million

Rev. per Employee

£29,440

/zigman2/quotes/209008939/delayed

Add to watchlist UK:MAB

Mitchells & Butlers PLC

UK : U.K.: London

200.00 p

-3.20 -1.57%

Volume: 595,096

May 20, 2022 4:35p

P/E Ratio

N/A

Dividend Yield

N/A

Market Cap

£1.19 billion

Rev. per Employee

£24,565

/zigman2/quotes/209723049/delayed

Add to watchlist CL00

Crude Oil Continuous Contract

US : U.S.: Nymex

$ 110.35

+0.07 +0.06%

Volume: 219,146

May 20, 2022 4:59p

/zigman2/quotes/207305210/composite

Add to watchlist BP

BP PLC ADR

US : U.S.: NYSE

$ 31.28

+0.25 +0.81%

Volume: 12.70M

May 20, 2022 4:00p

P/E Ratio

N/A

Dividend Yield

4.13%

Market Cap

$100.43 billion

Rev. per Employee

$2.62M

/zigman2/quotes/202286639/delayed

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BP PLC

UK : U.K.: London

417.20 p

+4.50 +1.09%

Volume: 32.73M

May 20, 2022 4:35p

P/E Ratio

N/A

Dividend Yield

4.20%

Market Cap

£80.56 billion

Rev. per Employee

£1.74M

/zigman2/quotes/201400686/delayed

Add to watchlist UK:GLEN

Glencore PLC

UK : U.K.: London

497.35 p

-0.60 -0.12%

Volume: 28.94M

May 20, 2022 4:35p

P/E Ratio

18.26

Dividend Yield

4.19%

Market Cap

£64.92 billion

Rev. per Employee

£1.09M

/zigman2/quotes/202627887/composite

Add to watchlist RIO

Rio Tinto PLC ADR

US : U.S.: NYSE

$ 69.54

+1.61 +2.37%

Volume: 3.18M

May 20, 2022 4:00p

P/E Ratio

5.35

Dividend Yield

11.39%

Market Cap

$113.05 billion

Rev. per Employee

$1.29M

/zigman2/quotes/208934945/delayed

Add to watchlist UK:RIO

Rio Tinto PLC

UK : U.K.: London

5,449.00 p

+102.00 +1.91%

Volume: 2.34M

May 20, 2022 4:35p

P/E Ratio

5.80

Dividend Yield

13.04%

Market Cap

£90.68 billion

Rev. per Employee

£935,616