U.K. stocks were marginally higher on Wednesday amid signs of easing Middle East tensions and growing expectations of a Fed rate cut in September.
In economic releases. U.K. government borrowing in July exceeded the official estimate and also hit the highest for the month since 2021 due to the increase in public spending, data from the Office for National Statistics showed.
Public sector net borrowing increased GBP 1.8 billion from the previous year to GBP 3.1 billion in July. This was the highest July borrowing since 2021.
The benchmark FTSE 100 was up 12 points, or 0.1 percent, at 8,285 after losing 1 percent on Tuesday.
Miners traded higher after Shanghai aluminum futures scaled a five-week high, supported by tightness in raw materials supply.
Anglo American rose 1.3 percent and Glencore added 0.8 percent.
Costain Group jumped 4 percent after the engineering firm announced robust first-half results and unveiled a £10m share buyback program.
Housebuilder Barratt Developments edged up slightly.
The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has hinted measures proposed by Barratt and Redrow to alleviate the regulators local competition concerns are likely to be accepted.