London's FTSE 100 rose on Wednesday, supported by a set of strong corporate earnings led by Barclays, although the gains were capped by weakness in heavyweight mining stocks.

Shares of the British lender jumped 5.0% to the top of the FTSE 100 after its first-half profit nearly quadrupled, as it followed Wall Street rivals in reaping bumper investment banking fees from frenzied dealmaking.

Worst day in nearly three weeks for FTSE 100

"These look like a decent set of numbers, with the investment bank doing most of the heavy-lifting. On the domestic front, UK businesses and consumers come across as somewhat cautious in their spending patterns, which hopefully will change as the economy continues its reopening process," said Michael Hewson, chief market analyst at CM.