FTSE-100 shares rise despite concerns over Beijing coronavirus second wave as Boohoo leaps

The FTSE-100 posted modest gains today as investors balanced speculation of a massive public spending plan by Donald Trump with a worrying new covid outbreak in Beijing.

Blue chip shares edged up 32.46 points to 6275.25 in early trading.

Stock markets jumped yesterday amid speculation that Trump was planning a $1 trillion New Deal-style spending package to build rail, road and 5G infrastructure with state money. The massive fiscal boost would add to the monetary stimulus announced by the Federal Reserve this week.

Such a plan from the President would boost jobs and spending by the public and make up for the concerns that the central bank was running out of levers to pull to keep boosting the world's biggest economy.

But more worrying than that is the growing number of reports from Beijing highlighting fears of officials there about a new outbreak of covid which appears to be emerging from a vast wholesale market in the city. Researchers suggest the virus may have stemmed from a chopping board used for salmon, perplexing officials.

Shares in Asia today were slightly lower as a result, not helped by the International Monetary Fund's warning of a global economic contraction worse than the 3% it predicted in April.

Here in the UK, official inflation data from the Office for National Statistics came in as expected at 0.5% for May, down from 0.8% in April. Despite the blunderbuss of stimulus initiatives from the Bank of England and the Treasury to help the population get through the covid shock, inflation continues to fall, highlighting the deep troubles within the economy. Market analysts said that paved the way for far more stimulus from the Bank.

Shares in Boohoo surged after it upgraded its profit forecasts following bumper trading over the covid period as women shopped online for its fast fashion trends. The company also confirmed it was buying Warehouse and Oasis's digital businesses and intellectual property for £5.3 million. The shares jumped 8%.

SSE leaped 6% after announcing it was sticking with its dividend, while relatively resilient figures from Berkeley, the housebuilder, over the covid period took its shares up 2%.

It was another good day for travel stocks, with British Airways owner IAG, EasyJet and Rolls-Royce, the aero engines maker, all up 2-3%.

B&Q owner Kingfisher went on a tear after posting strong financial figures and a new strategy under revamped management. The shares leaped 9%, second only to Serco's 10% surge resulting from news of its "very strong performance in the first half of the year. Revenue growth was expected to be 23% for the first half of the year ending on July 1 driven mostly by overseas operations.