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* FTSE 100 up 0.5 pct
* Miners, energy stocks rise
* Tesco leads supermarkets after completes acquisition,upgrade
By Kit Rees
The FTSE 100 was up 0.5 percent at 7,103.30 pointsby 1008 GMT, in line with a broadly positive European market.However, the index remained close to its lowest level sinceDecember 2016, which it reached on Friday.
"The bounce for the FTSE is tepid at best," Mike van Dulken,head of research at Accendo Markets, said, adding that Brexitwas still hanging over the market following a speech by PrimeMinister Theresa May on Friday which failed to persuade manyinvestors that a deal with the European Union was any closer.
The materials and energy sectors added the most points tothe index, around 18 points collectively as oil prices advancedbefore a meeting between OPEC and
Shares in Royal Dutch Shell and BP both rosearound 0.8 percent.
Miners Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton, whichboth have high exposure to iron ore, gained more than 1 percentand partially recovered some of the previous session's losseswhen steelmakers were hit by concerns around
While gains were broad-based, shares in grocer Tescorose 0.6 percent after the company completed its
Supermarket stocks have come under pressure from concernsaround an inflation squeeze on consumers and a price war broughton by discount food retailers.
"The obvious benefits of reducing input headwinds and of aless defensively minded consumer should provide a more helpfulbackdrop to grocers from here," analysts at Jefferies said in anote. "Whether this will be supercharged by more modestdiscounter openings remains to be seen, but we are hopeful,"Jefferies added, also upgrading Morrisons to "buy".
Outside of the blue chips, Ultra Electronics was thebiggest mid cap faller, down more than 13 percent at athree-month low after the defence contractor terminated its
(Reporting by Kit Rees; editing by David Stamp)
