June 10 (Reuters) - London shares gained on Tuesday after soft labour market data cemented bets of more interest rate cuts in the year, while investor attention remained on U.S.-China trade talks.
The benchmark FTSE 100 (.FTSE), was up 0.4% by 0932 GMT, less than 1% away from an intraday record high clinched in late February.
Data showed that pay growth in Britain slowed sharply and unemployment rose to its highest in nearly four years in the three months to April, paving the way for the Bank of England to cut interest rates further.
"The BoE sounded less sure of a cut in May, opening up the prospect of a pause in August but today's data may tip the balance in favour of an August cut," said Elizabeth Martins, senior UK economist at HSBC Global Research.
Investors were also monitoring trade talks between the world's two biggest economies that extended to a second day, hoping for signs of thaw in a tariff war, which has begun to disrupt global supply chains and slowed economic growth.
The home construction and household goods sector (.FTNMX402020), led the gains on Tuesday, up 3.6%. It was driven by a 5.5% rise in Bellway (BWY.L), after the homebuilder raised annual forecast for the numbers of homes it expects to build this year.
Peers Vistry (VTYV.L), and Persimmon (PSN.L), were up 6.8% and 4.2%, respectively.
Energy shares (.FTNMX601010), climbed 1.9%, tracking higher oil prices.
Precious metal miners (.FTNMX551030), opens new tab, however, posted heavy declines, down 3.7%. Hochschild Mining (HOCM.L), plunged about 20% after issuing a six-week shutdown at its Mara Rosa mine, following lower-than-expected gold output by the end of May.
The stock is set for its steepest one-day fall since November 2021.
Mid-caps in London (.FTMC), were up 0.5%, largely boosted by gains in Aberdeen (ABDN.L), after J.P.Morgan upgraded the fund manager's stock to "overweight" from "neutral".
Reporting by Purvi Agarwal in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar
