LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's top stock index held near a three-week high on Wednesday as investors took profits into a recent rally in oil majors after crude prices hit a four-year high, while retailer Boohoo (L:BOOH) jumped after a strong set of earnings.
The FTSE 100 (FTSE) was broadly flat at 0840 GMT, as European markets lacked a clear direction ahead of a widely expected rate hike from the U.S. Federal Reserve later on Wednesday.
Boohoo (L:BOOH) shares jumped 9 percent after the company raised its full-year sales forecast and first half profit increased 22 percent.
Connor Campbell, analyst at Spreadex, said a decline in mining stocks and profit taking in oil majors prevented the FTSE from making substantial gains above the 7,500 points mark.
Miners Randgold Resources (L:RRS) and Fresnillo (L:FRES) were the leading FTSE losers, both down more than 2 percent.
Concerns over the progress of Brexit negotiations dogged sentiment with British carmakers triggering some contingency plans by certifying models in Europe.
British stocks, however, remained supported among value-hunters because of their relatively cheap valuations compared to other major equity markets.
At around 4 percent, Britain offers a higher dividend yield than markets such as Europe and the United States.
On a valuation basis, the 12-month forward price-earnings multiple is 13 percent below global equities while the price-to-book ratio for the index is about a fifth below its long term average, according to Thomson Reuters data.
"These valuations chime with positioning data that show the UK to be somewhat of a consensus underweight," said Mark Richards, a global multi-asset strategist at JP Morgan Asset Management in London.
As few as 630 UK-based finance jobs have been shifted or created overseas with just six months to go before Brexit, a far lower total than banks said could move after Britain's surprise vote to leave the European Union, according to a Reuters survey.