LONDON: Britain's top share index climbed to trade near a two-week high on Thursday as Britons started to cast their votes in a historic EU membership referendum, with recent opinion polls showing the "Remain" camp nudging ahead in the campaign.
Two opinion polls published late on Wednesday showed signs of a last-minute rise in support for staying in the European Union. Investors have mostly feared that a so-called Brexit would damage the economy in Britain and possibly beyond.
"Overnight polls still suggest the result could be very close although a late tilt towards Remain has helped bolster bullish sentiment on the hope the status quo is maintained and an uncertain outlook will not prevail," Mike van Dulken and Augustin Eden at Accendo Markets, said.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 index was up 0.7 percent at 6,306.56 points by 0822 GMT after rising to its highest level since June 7 in the previous session. The index was led higher by a 1.8 percent rise in the UK mining index following an increase in copper prices.
Shares in Glencore rose 3.1 percent, the top gainer in the FTSE 100 index, while Anglo American, Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton were up 1.3 to 1.8 percent.
Tesco was up 1.7 percent after Britain's biggest retailer reported a second successive quarter of UK underlying sales growth, the first time it has done so in more than five years, signalling its recovery is making steady progress.
"Tesco has maintained the positive momentum it picked up around the beginning of this year, with sales continuing to rise against a challenging retail backdrop," Laith Khalaf, senior analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, said.
"The elephant in the room is Amazon, which is currently testing out a grocery delivery service for some customers in London; if successful this represents a clear and present danger to the health of UK supermarkets."
On the downside, United Utilities fell 2.9 percent, the top decliner in the benchmark index, as its shares traded without the attraction the latest dividend payouts. Compass Group, Experian and Land Securities, which also traded ex-dives, fell 0.2 to 0.5 percent.
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