UK stocks finished marginally higher on Thursday as mining stocks once again featured among top gainers and with travel-related stocks such as Carnival rushing higher, although broker downgrades hit pest-control group Rentokil and brewer SABMiller.
Oil stocks such as BP and Royal Dutch Shell were also subdued, trading lower for much of the session as crude prices reached their lowest in nearly two months. Ample US fuel stockpiles helped spark the drop, easing fears of supply shortages as the summer driving season nears a close.
The cut in energy costs encouraged buying, however, of companies which count fuel as a major cost. Cruise operator Carnival finished up 6.4 percent and airline British Airways added 2.7 percent.
Easing geopolitical concerns contributed to a recovery for both stocks, traders said, with a cease-fire in the Middle East and airport operations in Britain nearly back to normal. Hundreds of flights were cancelled after police said last week they had uncovered a plot to bomb transatlantic airliners.
By the close, the FTSE 100 index was up 3.8 points at 5,900.4 - ending broadly unchanged for a second consecutive session.
Miners formed the strongest sector, with Anglo American and Vedanta bolstered by an upbeat note from Goldman Sachs, while on the downside oils and drug stocks weighed.
Total UK market volumes reached a thin 1.9 billion shares and analysts said the low turnover was exaggerating individual stock moves.
"I think the one thing that's happening is we're still in the holiday period and the moves we've seen over the last few days are not the robust moves that you would see in a 100 percent capacity stock market. If these moves were seen in September or October they would be more material," said Jim McCafferty, head of research at brokers Seymour Pierce.
On the economic data front, investors took note of an unexpected fall for British retail sales in July, which dented expectations of another interest rate rise this year.
"The weaker retail sales data in the UK has got everyone saying the Bank of England won't need to raise rates again. Before that people were pricing in a 25 basis-point rise before the year-end and that perhaps was concerning people," said Frances Hudson, a global strategist at fund manager Standard Life Investments.
Take-over speculation boosted several shares, including Anglo-Dutch steel company Corus, up 3.2 percent, as talk of a bid from Russian rival Evraz gained pace. Both companies declined to comment. Evraz said in June that it had no interest in Corus.
Mid-cap engineer Amec also rose on hopes of a take-over offer, finishing 4.6 percent higher in above-average turnover. Private equity firm Carlyle Group was mentioned by one trader as a possible suitor. A spokesman for AMEC declined to comment.
Radio group GCAP was the top FTSE 250 gainer, rushing 8.5 percent higher, although traders struggled to find a reason for the jump and noted low turnover across the market had exaggerated many stock price moves.
"The market has been very quiet today," one trader said. "There have only been scrappy bits of trading."
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