The FTSE 100 was registering its third straight gain as investors continue to snap up bargains in the aftermath of last week’s sell-off, which sent the index to a two-and-a-half month low of 6,672.37 on July 10th.

The Footsie was trading 0.2% higher at 6,760 in early trading on Tuesday, with markets taking a confident approach ahead of UK inflation and German ZEW data.

Consumer prices in Britain are expected to have risen at an annual rate of 1.6% in June, up from a 1.5% gain in May. However, following the recent slip in UK inflation, any downside surprise today could ease concerns about an imminent rate hike by the Bank of England.

Data already released this morning by the British Retail Consortium and accountants KPMG showed that UK retail sales fell by 0.8% on a like-for-like basis in June, surprising analysts who had estimated a pick-up from the 0.5% growth in May to 1.0%.

Total retail sales rose 0.6% but this was still the lowest growth since May 2011, on the back of rate-hike fears and England’s early exit from the World Cup.

German economic sentiment in July as measured by the closely-watched ZEW data is predicted to have slipped slightly.

Later on, Janet Yellen will be in focus as the Federal Reserve chief gives her semi-annual testimony to the Senate Committee.

Telecom Plus jumps after strong Q1 update, outlook

Strong customer growth in the first quarter at Telecom Plus led to increasing confidence that the utility supplier will hit full-year profits expectations of 50% growth. Shares in the FTSE 250 company jumped over 8% after it said it expected to gain increasing customers in the coming months due to regulatory changes in the energy industry.

A small rise in the prices of gold and silver helped precious metal miners Fresnillo, African Barrick Gold and Randgold to rise this morning. Gold prices were recovering after their biggest decline this year on Monday as the demand for safe-haven assets dropped on the back of renewed appetite for equities.

Other miners such as Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton and Anglo American were also performing well.

Costa and Premier Inn owner Whitbread fell after announcing that Non-Executive Director Richard Baker is to replace Anthony Habgood as Chairman when he steps down in September after nine years in the position.

FTSE 100 – Risers
Fresnillo (FRES) 944.00p +2.66%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,293.50p +1.59%
easyJet (EZJ) 1,260.00p +1.29%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 5,150.00p +1.28%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,520.50p +1.27%
Royal Mail (RMG) 488.80p +1.20%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 2,016.50p +1.18%
BG Group (BG.) 1,197.00p +1.14%
Vodafone Group (VOD) 193.80p +0.89%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 4,403.50p +0.78%

FTSE 100 – Fallers
Associated British Foods (ABF) 2,915.00p -1.19%
St James’s Place (STJ) 755.00p -1.11%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,141.00p -1.04%
ITV (ITV) 177.40p -0.89%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 365.10p -0.87%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,426.00p -0.83%
Shire Plc (SHP) 4,868.00p -0.71%
Schroders (SDR) 2,516.00p -0.67%
Sports Direct International (SPD) 718.50p -0.62%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 891.00p -0.56%

Source: ShareCast