Easing trade worries help FTSE climb

Britain's top share index rose on Wednesday amid a broad-based rebound in Europe as immediate worries over the impact of a trade spat between the United States and China eased, but housebuilder Berkeley slumped after a profit warning.
The FTSE 100 climbed 0.3 percent following three straight sessions of losses, while the domestically focused FTSE 250 gained 0.4 percent.
The FTSE opened 1 percent higher, but gains in sterling put pressure on it later in the day. The pound jumped after Prime Minister Theresa May won a crucial Brexit vote in parliament.
Multinational consumer stocks led the rebound on the FTSE, having suffered the worst falls in the previous session.
Cigarette makers British American Tobacco and Imperial Brands got a boost from broker Liberum, which recommended investors buy them in spite of increased regulatory risks. Oil majors BP and Royal Dutch Shell were the biggest drags, down 1.1 and 0.9 percent respectively, as oil markets stayed tense ahead of Friday's Opec meeting.
Crude prices rose slightly, but remained under pressure ahead of the meeting that may increase global production.
M&A continued to move the market. Sky shares rose 3.1 percent after Walt Disney raised its bid for Twenty-First Century Fox assets to $71.3 billion, topping Comcast's offer.
The European pay-TV group, 39 pct owned by Fox, is also being pursued by Comcast and its shares climbed as investors hoped Fox would increase its own offer since the company could afford to pay more due to the bidding war.
The biggest FTSE loser, Berkeley, fell 5.9 percent after the London-focused housebuilder said pretax profits would fall 30 percent in 2018/19 following a better-than-expected "peak" performance in 2017/18.
"We remain impressed by the resilience of Berkeley's profits in spite of a slower London market. However, we do take the guidance of fading returns seriously and therefore see the shares close to fair value," Liberum analyst Charlie Campbell said.
Ocado, meanwhile, topped the index, up 5.6 percent thanks to a price target upgrade from Peel Hunt which said the online grocer had the potential to become a "standard" platform for retail logistics across all sectors.