UK stocks rise as precious metal miners shine; BoE in focus

Dec 12 (Reuters) - ‌The main UK stock indexes rose on Friday, with a gauge of ‍precious metal ‌miners jumping to a record high following a stunning rally in gold and ⁠silver prices this year as traders priced ‌in more U.S. interest rate cuts.

The UK's blue-chip FTSE 100 rose 0.3% by 1144 GMT, while the midcap FTSE 250 index added 0.7%.

The FTSE 350 index of precious metal miners jumped ⁠4.6% to a record high as gold and silver prices climbed more than 1%, with the latter touching ​a fresh peak against a softer dollar. [GOL/]

Precious metal miners ‌Hochschild Mining surged 7.6% to lead ⁠gains in the UK midcap index, while Fresnillo and Endeavour Mining boosted the FTSE 100.

U.S. and European stocks were trading near record highs after the Federal Reserve ​cut interest rates by an expected 25 basis points on Wednesday and recent labour market data supported expectations of further easing.

Meanwhile, data showed Britain's economy shrank 0.1% in the three months to October, losing momentum ahead of finance minister Rachel ​Reeves' budget, ‍reinforcing bets of a Bank ​of England rate cut next week.

Markets assigned a 90% chance of a 25-bps cut next week, as the figures cast doubt on the central bank's forecast for modest fourth-quarter growth.

The FTSE 100 was headed for weekly gains of about 0.6%, while the midcap index was set for a 0.3% weekly dip.

Among other stocks, InterContinental Hotels Group ⁠rose 2% after Jefferies upgraded the Holiday Inn owner to 'buy' from 'hold'.

Card Factory fell about 26% after the greeting cards and gifts ​retailer warned of a drop in annual profit due to lower-than-expected UK store sales and expectations that weak high street footfall could persist over the festive weeks.

Harbour Energy rose 4.1% after the oil and gas producer ‌said it had agreed to acquire all subsidiaries of Waldorf Energy Partners and Waldorf Production for $170 million.

(Reporting by Tharuniyaa Lakshmi and Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh Kuber)