UK's exporter-heavy FTSE 100 edged higher on Wednesday, as mining stocks gained on firmer metals prices, while investors awaited U.S. inflation reading due this week to gauge the Federal Reserve's next move on rate hikes.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 (.FTSE) advanced 0.3%, after closing in the red on Tuesday for the first time this year. The more domestically focused FTSE 250 mid-cap index (.FTMC) shed 0.2%.
Industrial metal miners (.FTNMX551020) took an early lead, gaining 2.4% as copper prices hovered near their highest in more than six months, helped by optimism over top consumer China's decision to reopen its borders.
Glencore (GLEN.L) and Rio Tinto (RIO.L) gained more than 1% each.
Among individual stocks, Direct Line (DLGD.L) crashed 26.6% after the insurer said it is scrapping its final dividend for 2022 following a surge in claims, and weighed on peer Admiral (ADML.L), which dropped 15.0%.
JD Sports (JD.L) climbed 4.8% after the clothes and footwear retailer reported total revenue growth of more than 20% for six weeks in the run-up to Christmas.
