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LONDON (Alliance News) - Stocks in London ended higher on Wednesday as investors remained optimistic regarding a potential trade deal after talks between the US and China were extended to a third day.Officials have not made public comments about the outcome of the talks, although traders remain hopeful the US and China will reach a long-term trade agreement before the March 1 deadline.The FTSE 100 index closed up 45.03 points, or 0.7%, at 6,906.63. The FTSE 250 ended up 237.92 points, or 1.3%, at 18,413.71, and the AIM All-Share closed up 11.67 points, or 1.3%, at 903.63.The Cboe UK 100 ended up 0.6% at 11,742.98, the Cboe UK 250 closed up 1.5% at 16,478.08, and the Cboe Small Companies ended up 0.4% at 11,145.87.In Paris the CAC 40 ended up 1.0%, while the DAX 30 in Frankfurt ended up 0.9%. "Stocks are pushing higher into the close after US-China trade talks ended on an optimistic note. It was reported that Beijing will release details of the talks on Thursday, but a more recent report claims the release date might change. Traders are aware that some structural issues still persist, and that more issues need to be resolved, but the overall mood is positive," said David Madden, market analyst at CMC Markets.On the London Stock Exchange, Taylor Wimpey ended as the best blue chip performer, up 6.2% after the housebuilder said it is on track to meet expectations for 2018 and reiterated its 2019 guidance.Total completions were up 2.8% year-on-year in 2018 to 14,947 from 14,541, including joint ventures. As at December 31, Taylor Wimpey's total order book was valued at GBP1.78 billion, rising from GBP1.63 billion a year before. This figure excludes joint ventures and represents 8,304 homes. This growth was attributed to affordable housing. Taylor Wimpey said it intends to return GBP600 million to its shareholder by way of a total dividend in 2019, although this is subject to shareholder approval. The company said that while it was too soon for a definitive view of trading in 2019, it has continued to see "solid forward sales indicators" and is starting the year with a "very strong order book". Hargreaves Lansdown analyst Sophie Lund-Yates said: "For now, conditions are tenable with schemes like Help to Buy continuing to buoy demand among first time buyers. Government help has an expiry date though, and with the UK hurtling towards Brexit, no one knows what bruises the housing market might incur."Peers Persimmon, Barratt Developments and Berkeley Group closed up 4.0%, 3.4% and 3.2%, respectively. At the other end of the large cap index, Vodafone ended as the worst performer, down 2.0% still reeling after RBC Capital double downgraded the stock on Tuesday. Shares in the telecommunications firm closed down 1.1% on Tuesday and are down 36% over the last 12 months. In the FTSE 250, Ted Baker ended as the best performer, up 29% after the fashion retailer reported a strong Christmas performance which saw double-digit sales growth. For the five week period to January 5, the upmarket fashion retailer reported retail sales up 12% against the same period a year ago. At constant currency, sales were up 11%. E-commerce sales were up 19%, representing just over a quarter of the company's total sales in the period, while average retail square footage was up 5.0% to 429,576 square feet.In addition, HSBC upgraded Ted Baker to Buy from Hold. Softcat closed up 18% after the IT infrastructure provider said it is trading ahead of expectations as it nears the halfway point in its financial year. The company said trading since its last update at the end of November has continued to be strong, though gave no further information. At that time, Softcat reported strong customer demand in all of its segments, with revenue and operating profit both rising year-on-year in its first quarter ended October 31. Greggs closed up 6.7% after the bakery chain upped its annual guidance after reporting an increase in sales and "very strong finish to 2018". For the year ended December 29, the company said total sales were up 7.2% against the prior year, with company-managed shop like-for-like sales up 2.9%. The second half proved much stronger than the first, with like-for-like sales up 4.2% and 1.5% respectively, boosted by sales of seasonal products such as the "Festive Bake" and freshly-baked mince pies. As a result of its strong performance, Greggs said it expects its annual underlying pretax profit to be at least GBP88 million, "slightly ahead of our previous guidance". In November, the baker guided to profit of at least GBP86.0 million. For 2017, pretax profit came in at GBP81.8 million.The pound was flat quoted at USD1.2740 at the London equities close, compared to USD1.2735 at the close Tuesday as Prime Minister Theresa May suffered a second damaging defeat in House of Commons within 24 hours.Ahead of the resumption of debate on the deal, lawmakers voted by 308 to 297 for a procedural amendment tabled by Dominic Grieve, a leading pro-EU lawmaker from May's Conservative party.The amendment, backed by opposition parties, stipulates May must return to parliament with an alternative plan within three working days if she loses the "meaningful vote" on her deal, which is scheduled on Tuesday.May had wanted up to 21 days to consider her options.On Tuesday night the government endured a Commons defeat on a motion intended to limit its powers to change taxes in the event of a no-deal Brexit."While the PM remains transfixed on persuading MPs to vote for her proposal, it seems to be dead on arrival, prompting MPs to look beyond the vote to contemplate what happens next. The interesting thing is that quite frankly, no one knows what Theresa May's Plan B would be in the likely event that she loses Tuesday's vote," said IG Group analyst Josh Mahony. The euro was higher at USD1.1515 at the European equities close, against USD1.1447 late Tuesday following positive eurozone unemployment data. Eurozone unemployment rate unexpectedly eased in November to its lowest level in over a decade, figures from Eurostat showed.The seasonally adjusted jobless rate eased to 7.9% from a revised 8% in October. Economists had expected the rate to remain unchanged at October's original rate of 8.1%. The latest jobless rate was the lowest since October 2008, Eurostat said.Stocks in New York were higher at the London equities close, continuing to rebound from late-December lows.The DJIA was up 0.5%, the S&P 500 index up 0.3% and the Nasdaq Composite up 0.4%."We see further gains ahead given the fundamental foundation supporting economic growth and corporate profits, along with a Fed that appears more flexible than previously feared and improving prospects for a US-China trade deal. Lower valuations are a primary reason for the bounce, which we believe have been pricing in an overly pessimistic economic and earnings outlook," said analysts at LPL Financial research. Investors will also look ahead to the release of the minutes of the Federal Reserve's latest monetary policy meeting at 1900 GMT.The minutes of the December meeting will provide further insight into the Fed's decision to raise interest rates by 25 basis points to a range of 2.25% to 2.50%.Brent oil was sharply higher quoted at USD60.05 a barrel at the equities close from USD58.20 at the same time the prior day, extending its longest rally since late 2017. The North Sea benchmark hit an intraday high of USD60.57 a barrel in afternoon trade amid trade hopes as well as a softer tone from the US Federal Reserve last week. Gold was up quoted at USD1,289.10 an ounce at the London equities close against USD1,284.76 late Tuesday.The economic events calendar on Thursday has China inflation readings at 0130 GMT, Italy retail sales figures at 0900 GMT and the Bank of England's credit conditions survey at 0930 GMT. In addition Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell will speak at the Economic Club of Washington at 1700 GMT. The UK corporate calendar on Thursday has trading statements from supermarket chain Tesco, food, clothing and homewares retailer Marks & Spencer, department store chain Debenhams, greeting card retailer Card Factory and pub operator Mitchells & Butlers.