(Reuters) - UK shares gained for a second straight session on Wednesday over hopes of an improvement in global trade relations after Washington delayed imposing tariffs on some Chinese goods, while insurer Admiral rose after reporting a market-beating profit.
The FTSE 100 index <.FTSE> added 0.2% and the FTSE 250 midcap index <.FTMC> rose 0.1% by 0707 GMT.
Admiral <ADML.L> jumped 6% to the top of the main bourse after the company posted a bigger-than-expected rise in earnings, driven by more customers in its UK business.
Drugmaker AstraZeneca <AZN.L> rose nearly 2%, providing the biggest support to the index, after its drug Lynparza met the primary endpoint in a phase III trial for ovarian cancer treatment.
Infrastructure company Balfour Beatty <BALF.L> and Cybersecurity firm Avast <AVST.L> were at the top of the midcap index with gains of 6.7% and 4.2%, respectively, after strong results.
(Reporting by Muvija M and Shashwat Awasthi in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta)
