Britain's FTSE 100 climbs on metals and energy gains; Middle East in focus

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By Tharuniyaa Lakshmi

March 19 (Reuters) - London's FTSE 100 edged up on Wednesday, supported by gains in precious metal miners and energy shares, while investors monitored escalating tensions in the Middle East.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 index .FTSE rose 0.9% to 10,684.33 points by 1010 GMT, while the midcap FTSE 250 .FTMC climbed 0.1%.

• The precious metal mining stocks .FTNMX551030 jumped 2.8% to lead sectoral gains, with technical buying and safe-haven demand ahead of next week’s U.S. Federal Reserve meeting pushing gold prices to a two-week high. GOL/

• Energy gained 1.4% .FTNMX601010 after oil prices rose to near six-week highs on mounting concerns that escalating U.S.-Iran hostilities and threats by Yemen's the Iran-backed Houthi militia will disrupt key supply routes. O/R

• British inflation cooled more than expected last month as a U.S.-Iran de-escalation reduced fuel prices, but the relief is likely temporary for new Prime Minister Andy Burnham, who seeks to ease living costs.

• "The economy feels sick and with stock prices high it won't take much to tip the balance... We have to hope that the new Chancellor has come in with a plan. He has some breathing space, but to keep investors from cashing out and leaving the Chancellor with even less room to manoeuvre, this will need to be credible and implemented fast," said Nick Saunders, CEO of online investment platform Webull UK.

• Among stocks, Segro SGRO.L jumps 4.6% to the top of the FTSE 100 after Prologis' submits final takeover proposal for the Britain's warehouse landlord.

• J D Wetherspoon JDW.L fell 7.5% after the British pub chain warned that annual earnings would likely miss expectations due to weaker sales and rising costs.

(Reporting by Tharuniyaa Lakshmi in Bengaluru; Editing by Joyjeet Das)

((tharuniyaa@thomsonreuters.com))