Persimmon rises after it expects annual profit to be in line
SpiraxSarco falls on H1 profit, revenue miss
Rio Tinto, banks stocks weigh on exdividend trading
FTSE 100 up 0.1, FTSE 250 adds 0.5

Aug 10 Reuters UK stocks inched higher on Thursday ahead of key U.S. inflation data but lagged a broader rally in Europe after heavyweights such as HSBC and Rio Tinto weighed as their shares traded without the entitlement of dividends.

The FTSE 100 index gained 0.1 by 0836 GMT, while the broader European STOXX 600 index rose 0.6.

The bluechip British stocks gauge was still on track to extend gains after its biggest daily gain in three weeks on Wednesday.

Euro zone bluechips have risen 15 so far this year, whereas the UK39;s FTSE 100 has gained only about 2.

We know the FTSE has lagged in general, said Daniela Hathorn, senior market analyst at Capital.com.

It shows that at the end of the day, investors are still concerned about the state of the economy and we39;re not in the period of expansion anymore.

Banks stocks Barclays, Natwest Group, HSBC Holdings and Standard Chartered  were down between 0.2 and 1.5 as they traded exdividend.

Miner stocks fell 0.4, leading sectoral losses as Rio Tinto39;s morethan2.5 drop weighed. A 1.3 rise in shares of Antofagasta, coming after the Chilean miner raised shareholder returns, capped falls.

AngloSwedish drugmaker AstraZeneca was down 1.1 while energy firm BP was 0.1 lower, also on exdividend.

Shares of Persimmon gained over…