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LONDON (Alliance News) - Stocks in London ended higher on Wednesday driven by weakness in the pound and gains from the heavyweight mining sector, as the FTSE 100 moved closer towards all-time highs.The FTSE 100 index closed up 0.2%, or 11.22 points at 7,734.20. The large cap index's record closing high currently stands at 7,778.64 reached in January.The FTSE 250 ended up 0.2%, or 43.87 points, at 20,828.79, and the AIM All-Share closed up 0.2%, or 2.41 points, at 1,085.33."Commodities continue to benefit from a world of synchronised global growth, and if this continues we could see the FTSE 100 easily outpace its record high and push back in the direction of the 'psychologically important 8,000 level, thanks to the index's heavy concentration of miners. After so long, perhaps the index will finally get a chance to shine?," said IG chief market analyst Chris Beauchamp.The Cboe UK 100 index closed up 0.2% at 13,141.84. The Cboe UK 250 closed up 0.1% at 19,060.40, and the Cboe UK Small Companies closed up 0.2% at 12,808.40.On the London Stock Exchange, Paddy Power Betfair ended as the best blue chip performer, up 6.3%, after the bookmaker confirmed it is in discussions regarding a potential combination of its US business and FanDuel to create a combined entity to target the prospective US sports betting market. FanDuel is a US-based fantasy sports site. The stock has gained 14% so far this week after the US Supreme Court on Monday made a ruling which could pave the way for the legalisation of sports betting nationwide.Micro Focus International ended just behind, up 6.2%, after the Newbury-based software firm reiterated its revenue guidance for 2018 financial year and said revenue for the first half is expected to be better than prior management guidance. Micro Focus previously predicted a 9% to 12% year-on-year drop in revenue for the six months to end-April, on a constant currency basis.Micro Focus said the first half performance includes an unusually large licence deal of USD40 million, which closed earlier than expected. Excluding the deal, the company's underlying revenue still is estimated towards the better end of the guidance range. For the full 2018 financial year to end-October, the company expects 6% to 9% year-on-year drop in constant currency revenue. The group also anticipates to record an adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation margin of around 37% for the period.Miners were also supporting the FTSE 100's gains with Anglo American, Glencore, Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton closing up 4.9%, 3.6%, 2.6% and 1.8% respectively. The FTSE 350 Mining sector index ended as the best performing sector up 2.9%. At the other end of the large cap index, Smurfit Kappa closed as the worst performer down 5.1% after the Irish corrugated packaging company late Wednesday reiterated its rejection of a takeover approach from suitor International Paper Co.Earlier on Wednesday International Paper said the Irish Takeover Panel has given it until June 6 to announce whether or not to make a binding offer for packaging firm Smurfit Kappa, as it proposed a secondary London listing under its current offer.In late March, Smurfit Kappa rejected a new bid from New York-listed International Paper as failing to "value the group's true intrinsic business worth and future prospects." Centrica closed down 5.1% after Morgan Stanley downgraded the British Gas parent to Underweight from Equal Weight. In the FTSE 250, HomeServe ended as the best performer up 9.3% after the home emergency cover provider was raised to Buy from Neutral by UBS. At the other end of the midcap index, Crest Nicholson closed as the worst performer - down 13% - after the housebuilder said it expects operating margins for its current financial year to be at the bottom end of its guided range. Crest Nicholson said that the experiences of flat pricing against a backdrop of build-cost inflation in the range of 3% to 4% will mean that operating margins for the full year are expected to be at 18%, at the bottom of the group's guided range of 18% to 20%. In addition, Crest Nicholson said although most of its sales outlets have performed well, sales at higher price points have been more difficult to achieve, reflecting the greater interdependency of higher-value sales with transactions in the second-hand market, where there is more subdued activity. As a result, margins for the next financial year are expected to be at a similar level to the current year. Marston's closed down 12% after the pub operator swung to a loss in the first half of its financial year, despite double-digit growth in revenue, amid the GBP55 million acquisition of Charles Wells Brewing & Beer Business in May 2017. Pretax loss for the six months to the end of March was GBP13.4 million, sinking from a profit of GBP36.7 million for the same period the year before. This was due to accounting adjustments relating to the estate valuation and changes in the fair value of interest rate swaps, leading to exceptional costs totalling GBP49.7 million for the period. The pound was trading at its lowest levels since January against the dollar quoted at USD1.3480 at the London equities close, compared to USD1.3513 at the same time on Tuesday. "The pound has been unable to pull itself out of the doldrums following a month of weak data, a dovish Bank of England and growing concerns over the health of the labour market. Whilst the bulls retook USD1.35 this was not only short lived but also more of a story of fleeting dollar weakness, rather than any serious pound strength," City Index analyst Fiona Cincotta said. In Paris the CAC 40 ended up 0.3%, while the DAX 30 in Frankfurt ended up 0.2%. The euro was lower against the dollar at USD1.1793 at the European equities close, against USD1.1864 the prior day amid political instability in Italy and concerns over the country's debt. The single currency touched an intraday low of 1.1763 against the greenback in afternoon trade - its lowest since December. Italy's post-election stalemate has entered its eleventh week as populist parties at the centre of coalition talks struggled to reconcile their political differences, dashing hopes of an imminent deal.The anti-establishment Five Star Movement and the far-right League were finding it harder than expected to agree on how to run the eurozone's third-largest economy, amid a rumoured clash over who should get the prime minister role.In addition, draft proposals on eurozone exit and public debt write offs by the populist parties trying to form a coalition government in Italy caused some market turbulence, despite parties insisting that they were no longer relevant. The markets reacted to the late Tuesday publication on the Huffington Post Italia website of a 39-page draft programme between the Five Star Movement and the far-right Lega calling for "radical changes" in EU economic governance. The document included new rules "to allow member states to embark on an agreed path of consensual exit" from the euro and the cancellation of EUR250 billion of Italian sovereign bonds held by the European Central Bank."Reports that the Five Star Movement and Lega, which are in talks to form a coalition government, are considering a debt relief from ECB to the tune of EUR250 billion has stoked fears over Italy's creditworthiness," said Forex.com analyst Fawad Razaqzada.In economic news, eurozone inflation eased slightly in April, as estimated, final data from Eurostat showed Wednesday.Inflation slowed to 1.2% in April from 1.3% in March. The rate came in line with the estimate published on May 3.Inflation continues to stay below the European Central Bank's target of 'below, but close to 2%'.Stocks in New York were higher at the London equities close. The DJIA was up 0.1%, the S&P 500 index up 0.2% and the Nasdaq Composite up 0.3%.In US economic news, a report released by the Federal Reserve showed industrial production in the US increased by slightly more than anticipated in the month of April.The Fed said industrial production climbed by 0.7% in April, matching the upwardly revised increase in March. Economists had expected industrial production to rise by 0.6% compared to the 0.5% growth originally reported for the previous month.Brent oil was quoted at USD78.23 a barrel at the London equities close from USD78.75 at the close on Wednesday.Gold was continuing to slide quoted at USD1,288.42 an ounce at the London equities close against USD1,291.85 late Wednesday. Bullion hit an intraday low of USD1,286.83 its lowest since late December amid a jump in US treasury yields and a rally in the dollar. The economic events calendar on Thursday has Japan machinery orders at 0050 BST, Italy trade data at 0900 BST, eurozone construction output figures at 1000 BST and US initial jobless claims at 1330 BST. The UK corporate calendar on Thursday has full year results from commercial property company British Land, postal delivery company Royal Mail, credit checking agency Experian, private equity investor 3i Group and electricity transmission network operator National Grid.