By Alistair Smout and Francesco Canepa
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's top share index hit an all-time high on Wednesday, helped by gains for domestically-exposed retail stocks such as Next (L:NXT), Dixons Carphone (L:DC) and Sports Direct (L:SPD).
Dixons Carphone, the electricals and mobile phone retailer, was up 2.1 percent after German mobile telephone company Drillisch (DE:DRIG) agreed to buy the UK firm's telecoms shop chain The Phone House Deutschland for a combination of shares and future cash flows.
Fashion chain Next rose 1.5 percent after JPMorgan (NYSE:JPM) upgraded the shares to "overweight" from "neutral" ahead of the company's update on April 29.
The FTSE 100 (FTSE) was up 20.95 points, or 0.3 percent, at 7,096.21 points at 1116 GMT, after setting a new all-time high at 7,111.72 points.
"The search for a good, secure income remains one of the biggest themes for investors globally – on that basis UK FTSE 100 equities yielding prospectively 4 percent looks pretty good value," said William Meadon, a fund manager at JPMorgan Claverhouse Investment Trust who holds both Dixons Carphone and Next.
"Strategically we remain bullish on the internationally exposed FTSE ... we are however tactically more cautious ahead of an uncertain general election on May 7."
The index's rally has so far been largely unaffected by uncertainty about the election in which no party is expected to win an outright majority.
Domestically exposed stocks have outperformed the FTSE's more international names so far this year, although investors are becoming more cautious on the British economy's outlook. ( http://link.reuters.com/gef44w )
Continuing that trend, British sports retailer JD Sports Fashion (L:JD) rose 5 percent, a top mid-cap (FTMC) riser, after posting a 22 percent rise in full-year profit as demand for branded sports shoes in the UK and Europe helped sales soar.
Blue-chip peer Sports Direct rose 3.3 percent.
"The update from JD Sports is good for the sector, and Sports Direct is seeing follow-through from those good numbers," Mark Priest, sales trader at ETX Capital, said.
"The sports sector is cleaning up at the moment, and the economy in Britain is rosier than it was. That could all change after the election in a few weeks though."
Precious metals miner Fresnillo (L:FRES) rose 2.3 percent after saying it was on track to achieve its 2015 production guidance and reporting higher output in the first quarter.