Sept 23 (Reuters) - London's FTSE 100 inched higher on Wednesday, with heavyweight banks stocks leading gains as focus remained on any developments regarding a Middle East peace deal while crude oil prices were held near a recent low.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 index rose 0.17% to 10,726.56 points by 0946 GMT, while the midcap FTSE 250 slipped 0.24%.
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US President Donald Trump said talks with Iran in New York had made progress, but then threatened to "annihilate" the country if a deal was not reached.
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Oil prices meanwhile held near their lowest in more than two weeks, kept in check by improving Gulf crude supplies and growing hopes for a diplomatic resolution to the US-Israeli war on Iran. UK's energy sector however climbed 0.8%.
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Heavyweight banks rebounded after falling over 1% in the last session with HSBC and Standard Chartered adding 0.9% and 1.3% respectively.
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Pharma stocks were a drag, down 0.9% with FTSE heavyweight AstraZeneca down 1.1%.
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British engineering firm Renishaw rose 3.7% to a more than five-year high after reporting better-than-expected annual adjusted pretax profit.
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JD Sports slid 3.8% after the Sports and fashion retailer reported a 19.7% drop in first-half profit, hurt by weakness in its key North American market, becoming the top loser in the index.
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Clean energy technology developer Ceres Power gained 1.7% after it posts a 8% growth in half-year revenue from a year ago.
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Pollen Street has explored options, including a potential sale, as the London-listed private capital firm looks to scale up its asset management business, two sources said to Reuters. Pollen Street surged 17.1%, becoming the top gainer in the mid-cap index.
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A survey showed that growth in British business activity cooled this month and inflation pressure built, an awkward backdrop for finance minister John Healey ahead of his first budget next month.
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Financial markets pointed to a more than 66% chance that the Bank of England will raise interest rates on November, the week after Healey delivers his October budget.
Reporting by Anand Gopal in Bengaluru; Editing by Nivedita Bhattacharjee
Source: Reuters