The rally in the commodity sector picked up pace as oil prices surged to their highest level for five months.
Mining stocks and oil giants charged ahead after the cost of Brent crude rose above 46 US dollars a barrel at one stage, before settling at just over 45.85 US dollars, reaching prices not seen since last November.
London’s wider FTSE 100 Index edged lower – down 8.9 points to 6401.4 – after rising above 6400 for the first time in four months on Tuesday.
Oil prices have dominated markets once more this week, initially coming under pressure after producers failed to reach agreement on production cuts over the weekend.
But crude rebounded in late session trading on Wednesday thanks to a smaller than expected increase in US crude inventories and hopes of a deal to tackle the global supply glut.
Among stocks, Sky was suffering share falls – down 3% or 30.5p to 997.5p – despite reporting a 12% rise in earnings to £1.1 billion in the nine months to March, driven by strong growth in Europe.
Revenues at the pay-TV broadcaster rose 5% to £8.7 billion, and 177,000 new customers signed up in the third quarter.
Bookmaker Ladbrokes was 2% or 2.4p higher at 118.9p in the FTSE 250 Index after it said group net revenue jumped 10.6% year-on-year in the first quarter, with UK retail net revenue up 4.1% and digital revenue up 36.5%.
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