Oil and gas shares top gainers
Chemical stocks biggest decliners
Britain advises only essential travel to Israel
Metro Bank up on securing capital
FTSE 100 up 0.1, FTSE 250 off 0.5

Oct 9 Reuters The commodityheavy FTSE 100 edged higher on Monday as oil prices jumped more than 2 due to the ongoing military conflict in the Middle East, while shares of embattled Metro Bank gained after it raised 396.5 million in fresh capital.

The benchmark FTSE 100 index added 0.1, while the midcap FTSE 250 index fell 0.5.

Palestinian Islamist group Hamas on Saturday launched the largest military assault on Israel in decades, killing hundreds of Israelis and triggering a wave of retaliatory Israeli air strikes on Gaza that have also killed hundreds of people.

The spiralling violence threatened to start a major new war in the Middle East, sending oil prices higher and boosting demand for safehaven assets like Treasuries and gold.

Precious metal miners gained 1.4 while the aerospace and defence stocks added 1.9, to mark its best daily performance in over a month.

The heavyweight energy sector added 2.4.

Longterm government bonds also climbed as investors bolted for safety.

The Middle East is adding a little bit more uncertainty, but it wasn39;t like we were in a situation where everything was stable beforehand, said Daniela Hathorn, senior market analyst at Capital.com.

Travel and leisure stocks slipped 1.8 on prospects that rising crude prices will boost fuel costs and after…