BRUSSELS (dpa-AFX) - The UK stock market's benchmark index FTSE 100 climbed to a near four- month high Tuesday morning, lifted by gains in energy stocks as oil prices moved up amid tensions in the Middle East following fresh attacks on two commercial vehicles in the Strait of Hormuz on Monday.
A sell-off in mining stocks limited market's upside.
The FTSE 100, which climbed to 10,723.99 earlier, was up 21.90 points or 0.21% at 10,673.43 at noon.
Energy stocks Shell and BP moved up 2.8% and 1.5%, respectively. Shell lifted its second-quarter outlook for liquefied natural gas (LNG) volumes.
Among other notable gainers, Burberry Group climbed nearly 3.5%, Diageo surged 3.2% and Unilever added nearly 3%.
Relx, Rentokil Initial, Associated British Foods, LSEG, Experian, British Land, Reckitt Benckiser, JD Sports Fashion, Land Securities, Croda Internatiional, Haleon, Tesco, Convatec Group, Babcock International and Coca-Cola Europacific Partners gained 1.5%-2.7%.
Victrex shares soared 19%. The specialty polymer maker maintained its full-year guidance after reporting third-quarter revenue growth well ahead of expectations.
Miners Antofagasta and Anglo American Plc shed 2.7% and 2.3%, respectively. Fresnillo and Rio Tinto both dropped by about 1.7%, while Endeavour Mining lost 1.25%.
Among bank stocks, HSBC Holdings lost 0.5%, Lloyds Banking Group shed 0.6%, Natwest Group drifted down nearly 1%, Barclays lost 1.7% and Standard Chartered declined marginally.
Polar Capital Technology Trust lost 2.7%. Rolls-Royce Holdings, Aberdeen Group, Diploma, IMI, Computacenter, Spirax Group, Smiths Group and SSE also slipped into negative territory.
Safety equipment maker Halma fell more than 1% after it agreed to buy Dreampath Diagnostics, a France-based provider of automated tissue sample management systems for anatomical pathology laboratories.
In economic news, UK house prices grew for the first time in four months in June, a survey by S&P Global conducted for the Lloyds Bank subsidiary Halifax showed.
House prices increased 0.2% a monthly basis in June, offsetting a 0.2% fall in May. This marks the first increase in four months and exceeded the forecast of a 0.1% rise.
Annual growth in house prices rose slightly to 0.6% from 0.5% n May. The typical property costs GBP 299,330 in June.
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