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FTSE 100 up 0.1%, FTSE 250 falls 0.4%
Oct 27 (Reuters) - London's FTSE 100 inched higher on Tuesday after Europe's biggest lender HSBC and oil major BP posted upbeat earnings, but gains were capped as Britain announced wider coronavirus restrictions in the face of surging cases.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 index .FTSE rose 0.1% after closing more than 1% lower on Monday.
Asia-focussed HSBC HSBA.L jumped 5.5% after it reported a smaller-than-expected 35% drop in quarterly profit and signalled a pandemic-induced overhaul of its business model.
The wider banks' sub-index .FTNMX8350 gained 3.5%.
BP Plc BP.L added 1.6% after the oil major swung to a small profit in the third quarter, beating forecasts.
The domestically-focussed mid-cap FTSE 250 index .FTMC lost 0.4%.
The latest round of coronavirus curbs will take the number of people under England's highest category of alert to nearly eight million, with Warrington in northwest England to be classified as the highest Tier 3 alert level, Britain's health ministry said.
Bloomsbury Publishing Plc BLPU.L gained 16.7% after the Harry Potter publisher posted higher first-half revenue and pre-tax profit and resumed interim dividend.
(Reporting by Devik Jain in Bengaluru; editing by Uttaresh.V)
((Devik.Jain@thomsonreuters.com; within U.S. +1 646 223 8780; outside U.S. +91 80 6182 2062; ;))
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