UK's FTSE 100 ends higher on energy, defence boost

(Reuters) -Britain's blue-chip stocks index ended slightly higher on Tuesday, as defence stocks climbed after the government pledged heavy defence spending and heavyweight energy stocks tracked crude oil prices higher.

The FTSE 100 closed up 0.2%, while the midcap index ended 0.1% lower.

The aerospace and defence sub-index advanced 2.5% to an all-time high after Prime Minister Keir Starmer pledged the largest sustained increase in British defence spending since the end of the Cold War.

Oil major Shell gained 1.7%, while BP added 0.6% as crude oil prices climbed close to 2%.

On the downside, miners of both industrial and precious metals fell more than 1% each as prices of copper and gold came under pressure.

Despite Tuesday's gains, sentiment remained shaky as investors looked out for any developments on the trade front following U.S. President Donald Trump's Friday announcement that he would increase tariffs on imported steel and aluminium from 25% to 50%.

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) trimmed its global growth outlook and said the trade war was taking a bigger toll on the U.S. economy than before.

The Paris-based organisation also urged Britain's government to make stronger efforts to reduce borrowing and debt, just days before finance minister Rachel Reeves presents her long-term spending plans.

British equities have rebounded from their April lows, in line with a global shift into riskier assets as Trump's tariff stance softened, with the blue-chip index now sitting about 1% away from its all-time highs.

Chemring Group jumped 6.7% after the defence contractor posted the highest-ever order book for the six months ended April 30. The stock hit a near four-year high.

Education company Pearson dropped 6.6% after Australian peer IDP Education forecast a drop in annual profit.

Drugmaker GSK shed 2.1% after brokerage Berenberg downgraded its rating to "hold" from "buy".

(Reporting by Ragini Mathur and Shashwat Chauhan in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore and Alex Richardson)