LONDON (AFP) - British blue chips closed comfortably higher, with energy and mining stocks ahead and as Wall Street extended gains, offsetting concerns about soaring oil prices, dealers said.
The FTSE 100 ended up 26.1 points at 4,567.3, while all the broader FTSE indices closed mixed.
Volume increased in late trade, with 2.580 billion shares changing hands in 189,646 deals.
In New York, by London's close, the Dow Jones Industrial Average strengthened, up 29.76 points at 10,010.80, while the Nasdaq composite index was unchanged.
Oil prices remained under scrutiny, as crude futures again probed uncharted territory in New York, breaching the 50 US dollars a barrel level earlier today.
In London, miners topped the FTSE 100 gainers board, with BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto both closing in the top two places, boosted by sharply higher metal prices and bullish comments from Citigroup Smith Barney, which reiterated its 'overweight' sector stance.
The US broker raised BHP's target to 625 pence and Rio Tinto's to 1,750 pence, reiterating its 'buy' recommendation on both stocks.
BHP Billiton shares ended 29 higher pence to 584-1/2, Rio Tinto rose 52 pence to 1,472, while Anglo American was up 37 at 1,311, and Xstrata 14 pence higher to 902.
Antofagasta added 28 pence to 1,116, with the added bonus of copper prices hitting six months highs.
Soaring oil prices lifted energy stocks, with BP rising 7 pence to 539, BG Group adding 12-1/4 to 372-1/4, and Cairn Energy up 26 at 1,525.
BG was further helped by positive comments by CSFB following a meeting with the company on its Egyptian operations, dealers said.
Still on the upside, Man Group added 34 pence at 1,250 and Exel gained 11-1/2 pence to 693-1/2 on upbeat broker comment.
Cazenove reiterated its 'outperform' stance on Man Group ahead of tomorrow's trading update, while JP Morgan raised forecasts on Exel as it repeated 'overweight' recommendation.
Carnival remained in favour after Deutsche Bank reiterated its 'buy' rating on the stock, raising its target to 3,500 pence and lifting estimates and yield forecasts for the cruise operator.
Carnival rose 12 pence to 2.765.
In the negative territory, Cable and Wireless topped the FTSE 100 fallers board, slumping 3-1/4 pence to 96-1/2 after Standard and Poor's downgraded the long-term corporate credit ratings of its US peers BellSouth and SBC Communications to "A" from "A+".
S-and-P lowered the credit ratings of the tech bellwethers due to increased competition in their wireline businesses and risks in integrating AT-and-T Wireless into the companies' Cingular Wireless joint venture. S-and-P left the rating outlooks at "negative."
Media and publishing groups were also under pressure.
Publisher EMAP slipped 11-1/2 pence to 757-1/2 after an uninspiring trading update for the six months to September.
"The trading statement arguably has something for the bulls and something for the bears," Citigroup Smith Barney said, maintaining its 'hold' recommendation and leaving its forecasts unchanged.
ITV dropped 1-1/2 at 104 -- amid concerns over autumn viewing figures. BSkyB followed, 7-3/4 lower at 478 on subscriber growth concerns -- making BSkyB the day's second biggest faller.
Hotels stocks finished in low spirits as UBS lowered its ratings and targets for several companies in its review of the sector.
The Swiss broker cut its ratings on Hilton Group to 'neutral' from 'buy' and price target from 325 pence to 315, and downgraded Millennium and Copthorne to 'reduce' with a target slashed to 300 pence from 360.
Millennium shed 7-1/4 at 329-3/4, while Hilton pared earlier losses to close flat at 277.
Telecom giant Vodafone was once again the most popular stock, with 204 million shares changing hands.
Traders also scrambled to exchange shares in BP, with 171 million transactions taking place.