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UK stocks end higher on the back of banks and healthcare stocks

Investors worried about the health of the British economic system prompted a rebound in UK shares on Wednesday, after the session before had seen the worst day for nearly five months.

Both the blue-chip FTSE 100 index and the domestically focused midcap index closed at 0.7%.

Investors' anxiety over the UK's ability get its finances in order led to a lower closing of the stock market on Tuesday. In Tuesday's session, the yield on 30-year gilts rose to its highest level since 1998.

Andrew Bailey, Governor of the Bank of England, told a hearing of a committee that it is "

It is important to not overfocus

The government is no longer able to raise significant funds from debt with this maturity.

Rachel Reeves, the finance minister, said that she would present her annual budget to Parliament on 26 November. She stressed that "a tight grip" on government spending could lower borrowing costs and inflation.

The market rose in line with the price of base metals and precious metals.

Hochschild Mining's stock rose 7.6%, its highest level since early 2013. This is after the company sold its Chilean Volcan gold project operator.

Anglo American increased by 2.3%. The miner is proposing to sell the remaining Valterra Platinum stake.

The benchmark index's top performers were heavyweight healthcare stocks and bank shares.

Since last Friday, banks have been under pressure after a think tank recommended a new lender tax as a way for Reeves' to raise revenue.

Energy stocks were the main losers, with Shell and BP each down around 1.3% as oil prices fell.

Watches of Switzerland rose 6.1%, after announcing that it would report results for the first half of fiscal year in line with expectations due to strong U.S. consumer demand. Hilton Food Group dropped 17.4% as a result of higher costs and regulatory restrictions at its Foppen unit.

A survey revealed that a surge in new business fueled Britain's service sector to record its highest growth rate in over a year last month.

In the U.S.

softer-than-expected

The July job openings report strengthened the bets that an interest rate cut is imminent. Reporting by Sukriti in Bengaluru Editing and Gareth Jones by Tasim Zahid

(source: Reuters)