The commodity-heavy FTSE 100 rose on Monday as oil prices jumped more than 2% due to the ongoing military clashes between Israeli and Hamas forces, while shares of embattled Metro Bank gained after announcing a capital raise.
The main FTSE 100 (.FTSE) index rose 0.2% by 0702 GMT, while the FTSE 250 (.FTMC) index fell 0.1%.
Palestinian Islamist group Hamas on Saturday launched the largest military assault on Israel in decades, killing hundreds of Israelis and triggering a wave of retaliatory Israeli air strikes on Gaza that have also killed hundreds of people.
The spiralling violence threatened to start a major new war in the Middle East, sending oil prices higher and boosting the demand for safe-haven assets like Treasuries and gold.
Precious metal miners (.FTNMX551030) gained 0.6% while the heavyweight energy sector (.FTNMX601010) added 2.9%.
Aerospace and defence stocks (.FTNMX502010) added 1.2%.
In corporate news, Metro Bank (MTRO.L) announced a 325 million pound ($396.5 million) capital raise and 600 million pound debt refinancing on Sunday, giving majority shareholder control to its biggest investor - Colombian billionaire Jaime Gilinski. Shares of the mid-sized lender surged over 19%.
Croda International (CRDA.L) plunged 9% after the speciality chemicals group cut its annual profit forecast, due to destocking and weak demand.
