London stocks set for weekly gains; miners lead gains

British equities edged higher on Friday, set for weekly gains, led by a jump in precious metal miners and broader strength across the board, while data showed Britain's economy grew in February, showing signs of exiting inflation. The exporter-heavy FTSE 100 was up 0.8% as of 7:15 GMT, and the mid-cap FTSE 250 index rose nearly 0.9%.

British equities edged higher on Friday, set for weekly gains, led by a jump in precious metal miners and broader strength across the board, while data showed Britain's economy grew in February, showing signs of exiting inflation.

The exporter-heavy FTSE 100 was up 0.8% as of 7:15 GMT, and the mid-cap FTSE 250 index rose nearly 0.9%. Both indexes look set for weekly gains. Precious metal miners led sectoral gains with a 3.9% rise after gold prices rose to a historic peak.

Industrial metal miners followed with a 2.2% uptick as Shanghai aluminum prices touched two-year highs as funds pumped money into commodities, including metals to hedge against rising inflation. Britain's economic output grew by 0.1% in February, in line with a Reuters poll of economists. January's reading was revised higher, pointing to an exit from the recession in early 2024.

Among individual stocks, BP gained 2.2% after the United Arab Emirates state-owned oil company recently considered buying the energy giant, but the deliberations did not progress beyond preliminary discussions.