LONDON, April 8 — Britain’s top equity index hit a seven-week high today, lifted by commodity and banking stocks at the end of a volatile week that saw worries about higher US interest rates and the Ukraine conflict rattle investors.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 gained 1.2 per cent to touch its highest since February 14, while the midcap FTSE 250 index rose 0.8 per cent.

The FTSE 100 was on course for a fifth straight weekly gain, with defensive sectors such as pharmaceuticals and utilities boosting markets as investors played safe amid concerns about the economic outlook.

Western countries imposed fresh sanctions against major crude exporter Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, fuelling concerns about a further spike in commodity prices, while worries about aggressive steps by the US Federal Reserve to tame inflation roiled US stocks earlier this week.

Still, Wall Street ended higher yesterday, with Asian shares steady and a rally in energy and banking stocks boosting European markets today.

"The make-up of the FTSE 100 is the biggest reason why the market is outperforming,” said Maarten Geerdink, head of European equities at NN Investment Partners.

"We’ve a very different landscape for commodities at this time... and the natural reaction from equity investors is if you want to hedge yourself against inflation, you want to buy into commodity exposure.”

Despite concerns about slowing economic growth and inflation, the commodity-heavy FTSE 100 has outperformed its major global peers so far this year, gaining nearly 3.5 per cent, while the pan-European STOXX 600 index is down 5.5 per cent.

A monthly survey of recruiters showed British companies hired permanent staff at the slowest rate in a year last month, despite raising starting salaries by a record amount, as they struggled with a lack of qualified candidates.

Among midcaps, Ukraine-focussed miner Ferrexpo jumped 14.0 per cent after it said it was able to sell most of the iron ore pellets produced in the first quarter.

Online trading platform CMC Markets gained 8.7 per cent after its fourth-quarter trading update, while paper and packaging group Mondi slipped 0.3 per cent after Morgan Stanley downgraded the stock to "equal-weight”. — Reuters