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FTSE 100 up 0.2%, FTSE 250 down 0.3%

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Defence stocks slip to over 1-week low ahead of

Trump-Putin

meeting

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UK employers report weaker hiring and pay growth in July

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

Monday, led by healthcare and consumer shares, but losses in

defence stocks ahead of this week's renewed Russia-Ukraine peace

negotiations capped gains.

The FTSE 100 was up 0.2% as of 0947 GMT. The FTSE

midcap index was down 0.3%.

The healthcare sector rose 1.1% on Monday.

Drugmaker GSK said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration

will do a priority review of its medicine to treat uncomplicated

gonorrhoea; its shares gained 0.8%. Heavyweight AstraZeneca ( AZN )

was also up 1.5%.

British American Tobacco ( BTI ) and spirits maker Diageo ( DEO )

rose over 1% each.

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 2.4% higher.

On the flip side, a gauge of the aerospace and defence

sector dropped 0.7% to a more than one-week low

as a potential truce in the Russia-Ukraine war nears.

U.S. President Donald Trump will meet Russian President

Vladimir Putin on August 15 in Alaska to negotiate an end to the

war in Ukraine.

Trump said the parties, including Ukraine President

Volodymyr Zelenskiy, were close to a ceasefire deal.

Defence stocks, among the year's best performers, lost 0.8%

last week as the peace efforts gained momentum.

Online trading platform Plus500 fell 2.8% after

weak half-year profit margins and no upgrade to its annual

forecast, making it one of the FTSE 250's top decliners.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 index rose 0.3% last week as

investors weighed strong corporate earnings and a Bank of

England rate decision that signalled the central bank's

rate-cutting cycle may be nearing its end.

On Monday, data showed that hiring intentions by British

businesses fell to their weakest since the COVID-19 pandemic,

and recruiters said starting pay was rising at the slowest pace

in more than four years, adding to signs of a weakening jobs

market.

Looking ahead, U.S. inflation data is due on Tuesday, a key

determinant for the Federal Reserve's interest rate decision

next week.