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* FTSE 100 flat
* Ocado surges over 40 pct
* Royal Mail falls 5 pct
* Gambling stocks hit by stake restriction
By Julien Ponthus
LONDON, May 17 (Reuters) - Strong oil prices lifted sharesin UK majors and helped Britain's FTSE stay afloat on Thursdaywhile online grocery retailer Ocado hit a record high and wasset for its biggest rise ever after signing a deal with U.S.grocer Kroger.
The FTSE 100 was flat at 0806 GMT, at 7,732 pointsstill flirting with the record high it reached in mid-January.
Heavyweights Royal Dutch Shell and BP wereup 0.7 percent and 0.3 percent respectively as oil prices hittheir highest level since November 2014 on Thursday.
"Helping to keep the FTSE away from its 7800-target thisThursday was Thomas Cook and Royal Mail, neither stock able tojustify their recent highs in the eyes of investors", saidConnor Campbell, a financial analyst at Spreadex.
Britain's Royal Mail Plc fell 4.7 percent after itwarned the decline in letter volumes may come in at the higherend of its forecast range while the British holiday companydeclined 3.1 percent after reporting first-half earnings.
The star performer of the session however was Ocado whichposted its biggest rise ever, up 43.1 percent since it listed onthe stock market in 2010 after it announced that U.S. retailerKroger would use its technology.
"We think this is just about as positive a deal as couldhave been expected to have been announced by Ocado," analysts atBarclays said, adding "the company now has an extremely crediblepartner in the largest grocery market in the world."
Among smaller companies, Britain's Mothercare was upabout 25 percent after the struggling mother and baby productsretailer said it would ask investors for 28 million pounds aspart of a restructuring plan that would see a further 50 storesclose.
Experian, the world's biggest credit data company,added 3.5 percent after reporting a 7.5 percent rise infull-year revenue and said it expected 2018 to be another yearof growth.
UK betting stocks were on the back foot after the UKgovernment cut the top stake on betting terminals to 2 pounds.
Ladbrokes Coral-parent GVC, William Hill andPaddy Power Betfair which operate some of the 182,000gaming machines in Britain were down 2.1 percent and 2.8 percentand 0.6 percent respectively.(Reporting by Julien PonthusEditing by Matthew Mpoke Bigg)
BP (BP.)
