March 11 Reuters British shares ended higher on Thursday as firmer commodity prices boosted mining and energy stocks, while HSBC traded exdividend and AstraZeneca sank on doubts over its COVID19 vaccine.

The bluechip FTSE 100 index ended up 0.2, with mining stocks including Rio Tinto, Anglo American and BHP Group gaining between 1.8 and 4.6.

Oil heavyweights BP and Royal Dutch Shell were also among the biggest boosts to the FTSE 100, as crude prices rose.

HSBC Holdings, which traded exdividend, was the worst performer in the index, while AstraZeneca fell 2.5 after health authorities in Italy, Denmark and Norway temporarily suspended the use of the drugmakers COVID19 vaccines on reports of blood clots and death.

Benign U.S. inflation data had taken some recent pressure off stocks, with Wall Street indexes hitting record highs. But investors see overheated inflation as a long shot in the UK, given the severe economic slowdown from COVID19.

Were not convinced that were going to get strong inflation this year because the economy is still too weak, said Andrea Cicione, head of strategy at TS Lombard.

Theres still a huge output gap that needs to be filled and the economy is working below potential, that simply arent the conditions for inflation to fully develop, thats more of a story for 2022 and beyond

Still, the FTSEs recovery run from pandemic lows has somewhat stalled this year as sectors apart from financials came under pressure from high bond yields. Weak local…