London stocks climb on financials, retail boost

June 25 (Reuters) - London's main FTSE indexes gained on Thursday, with financial and retail companies posting strong business updates, while easyJet attracted investor interest by keeping the door open to a Castlelake buyout.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 index closed 0.7% higher, while the midcap FTSE 250 climbed 0.3%. Both indexes hit over-one-week highs.

• Financials led sectoral gains, up 3.1%, with private equity group 3i Group adding 11.5% after its retail brand Action reported a 3.3% rise in like-for-like sales for the 25 weeks ended June 21.

• Greeting card retailer Moonpig rose 2.5% after announcing upbeat annual pre-tax profits, as customers traded up to higher priced gifts.

• Bicycle and car parts retailer Halfords soared 20.6% after forecasting fiscal year 2027 profit towards the top end of analyst expectations.

• British budget carrier easyJet rose 6.4% after rejecting a fourth, sweetened £4.93 billion ($6.50 billion) takeover proposal from U.S.-based investment firm Castlelake, but said it would grant the suitor limited access to commercial information in hopes of drawing a higher bid.

• ITV jumped 2.4% after a Reuters report that Comcast-owned Sky had agreed on terms to buy the FTSE midcap's broadcast and streaming unit.

• Advanced Medical Solutions Group shot up 16% after the medical supplier received a £715 million buyout offer, including debt, from U.S.-based adhesives maker H.B. Fuller.

• U.S. inflation increased further in May, keeping an interest rate increase from the Federal Reserve this year on the table.

• For the Bank of England, traders anticipate the central bank will hike borrowing costs by 25 basis points by year-end, according to LSEG-compiled data.

• In politics, Finance Minister Rachel Reeves announced her support for Andy Burnham, who is widely anticipated to become the UK's seventh prime minister in a decade two weeks from now.

($1 = 0.7582 pounds)

(Reporting by Johann M Cherian and Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru; Editing by Harikrishnan Nair)