British stocks rise on trade optimism

(Reuters) -British equities closed higher on Friday, as the recent de-escalation of the global tariff war supported risk appetite, while investors anticipate more trade agreements ahead.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 gained 0.6%, closing at its highest in nearly 2 months. The index posted a weekly gain of about 1%.

The midcap index gained 0.6% and posted its higest closing since February 10.

The index gained 1.7% this week, notching its seventh consecutive weekly advance.

On Friday, President Donald Trump said U.S. officials will send letters to countries in the next few weeks, outlining the costs associated with doing business in the United States, though he did not provide additional details.

This week, investors cheered the U.S.-China trade war truce, which significantly reduced global recession risks, alongside benign economic data and mostly positive corporate earnings results, despite some underlying caution.

Some major brokerages have revised their U.S. recession forecasts downward after a temporary tariff truce between the U.S. and China eased global trade tensions and sparked a rally in riskier assets this week.

UK's healthcare subindex gained 1.7%, with AstraZeneca posting a 1.9% rise.

Energy stock gained 0.9% after oil prices edged up. [O/R]

Heavyweight BP gained 1.2% in the FTSE 100.

Wealth manager St James's Place rose 2.1% after J.P. Morgan raised its price target on the stock.

Keeping gains in check, precious and industrial metal miners fell 1.9% and 1.6%, respectively, tracking lower gold and copper prices. [GOL/] [MET/L]

Future PLC fell 10.3%, the top loser among midcap stocks, after the publishing firm said it will adopt a "more cautious view" for the second half of the year.

Workspace Group fell 6.4% after the office-space provider said it expects trading profit headwind of about 7 million pounds ($9.30 million).

Looking ahead, the UK-EU summit on May 19 will take centre stage, in which both sides hope to improve post-Brexit ties following Trump's upending of security and trade alliances.

Market participants will also monitor next week's consumer inflation data, which could influence the Bank of England's monetary policy stance.

($1 = 0.7530 pounds)

(Reporting by Sanchayaita Roy, Ragini Mathur and Twesha Dikshit in Bengaluru; Editing by Sahal Muhammed and Krishna Chandra Eluri)