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* FTSE 100 up 0.5%, FTSE 250 down 0.1%
* BP , Shell jump - tracking higher oil prices
April 2 (Reuters) - Higher oil prices lifted UK's
commodity-heavy FTSE 100 on Thursday, although the mood was
fragile as Britain saw a record surge in deaths from the
coronavirus pandemic that threatens to plunge the world economy
into a deep recession.
BP BP.L and Royal Dutch Shell RDSa.L gained more than
4%, as oil prices surged after U.S. President Donald Trump said
he expected Saudi Arabia and Russia to reach a deal soon to end
their oil price war. O/R
That helped the FTSE 100 .FTSE gain 0.5% by 0809 GMT, but
midcap shares dropped 0.1%
Shares of Standard Life Aberdeen SLA.L , Mondi MNDI.L and
Smith & Nephew SN.L fell as they traded ex-dividend, while
Carnival Corp CCL.L dropped 7.2% to the bottom of the FTSE
100.
After Wednesday's data showed factory activity contracted
sharply in most parts of the world in March, investors are
waiting for U.S. weekly jobless claims to see how bad the
world's largest economy has been hit by the outbreak.
IAG-owned British Airways ICAG.L rose 1.7% after a source
told Reuters they are in talks with its union about a plan to
suspend around 32,000 staff in response to the pandemic.