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FTSE 100 up 0.4%, FTSE 250 down 0.4%

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Defence stocks slip to 1-week low ahead of Trump-Putin

meeting

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UK employers report weaker hiring and pay growth in July

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UK employment data, US inflation report due in the week

(Updates with closing levels)

Aug 11 (Reuters) - Britain's blue-chip index climbed on

Monday, led by financials and consumer-related shares, while

investors focused on upcoming economic releases and revived

Russia-Ukraine peace efforts.

The FTSE 100 gained 0.4%, while the FTSE midcap

index was down 0.4%.

Financial stocks emerged as the day's stand out

performers, with life insurers' index reaching

its highest level since March 2023 in intraday trading and the

banking index closing at a one-week high.

Analysts believe the broader financial sector is

benefiting as investors increasingly seek refuge in

domestic-focused equities due to global trade uncertainties

triggered by U.S. tariff policies.

In consumer-related shares, British American Tobacco ( BTI )

and spirits maker Diageo ( DEO ) rose 2% and 1.8%,

respectively.

Retailer Marks & Spencer ( MAKSF ) resumed click-and-collect

orders for clothing after a nearly four-month hiatus following a

cyber hack and data theft, sending its shares 3% higher.

Meanwhile, a gauge of the U.K.'s defence sector

ended flat after falling to a one-week low

earlier in the day.

U.S. President Donald Trump is scheduled to meet Russian

counterpart Vladimir Putin in Alaska on August 15 as he seeks to

negotiate an end to the war

in Ukraine, although Kyiv fears being excluded from the

negotiations.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer has expressed

support for peace efforts while emphasizing

Kyiv's necessary involvement

in any settlement.

Among other movers, Oxford Nanopore Technologies ( ONTTF )

dropped 3% after the biotechnology firm announced CEO Gordon

Sanghera's planned departure by 2026, though the broader

healthcare sector added 0.7%.

Online trader Plus500 fell 5.7% after announcing

disappointing profit margins and unchanged annual forecasts,

making it one of the FTSE 250's biggest decliners

Recent surveys indicate British business hiring intentions

have fallen to pandemic-era lows, with starting salaries rising

at the slowest pace in four years.

Investors now await Tuesday's UK employment data, which

is likely to show the jobless rate in the three months to June

held at 4.7%, close to a four-year high.

Across the Atlantic, the U.S. inflation report is also due

on Tuesday, a key determinant for the Federal Reserve's interest

rate decision next week.