2 Minute Read by Reuters Staff A guy walks by the London Stock Exchange in London, Britain, on August 24, 2015, sheltering under an umbrella. (Reuters) – REUTERS/Suzanne Plunkett/File Photo On Monday, British mid-caps gained, led by advances in heavyweight mining firms and grocery chain Morrisons, as investors shrugged over rising local coronavirus cases as the UK prepared to loosen its quarantine. Morrisons rose 11 percent to the top of the mid-cap index after Apollo Global Management, a private equity firm based in the United States, said it was exploring a bid for the British retailer, which had agreed to a 6.3 billion pound buyout from another group on Saturday. The FTSE 250 index, which is focused on the UK, increased 0.2 percent, with base metal miners up nearly 1.3 percent. On Monday, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson will lay out plans for the final phase in the lifting of the lockdown in England. The final legal constraints will be abolished on July 19, with a decision on whether or not to proceed set for July 12. The blue-chip FTSE 100 index remained unchanged. Hipgnosis Songs Fund, which owns the rights to artists such as Neil Young and Shakira, increased its payout and recorded a 0.7 percent increase in yearly earnings. Shashank Nayar contributed reporting from Bengaluru, and Uttaresh.V. edited the piece./n
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