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* FTSE 100 up 0.2%, FTSE 250 up 0.3%
* Oil giants gain, offset some trade worries
* Mid-cap FirstGroup hits near 2-yr high
May 30 (Reuters) - Gains in heavyweight oil company shares
helped London's main index inch higher on Thursday even as some
aversion to risky assets prevailed after Beijing dialled up the
rhetoric against Washington in their protracted trade war.
The FTSE 100 .FTSE was up 0.2% by 0704 GMT. The mid-cap
FTSE 250 .FTMC rose 0.3%, helped in part by a surge in rail
and bus operator FirstGroup.
Oil majors Shell RDSa.L and BP BP.L boosted the main
share index as oil prices rose on Thursday after an industry
report showed a bigger-than-expected decline in U.S. crude
inventories, though global trade uncertainty still loomed. O/R
Markets have been bracing for the possibility that a
resolution to the Sino-U.S. spat may not be imminent. China
fired another shot at the United States on Thursday as Vice
Foreign Minister Zhang Hanhui said provoking trade disputes was
"naked economic terrorism". FirstGroup FGP.L , under pressure from a shareholder to
make strategic changes, jumped nearly 11% to a near two-year
high after it put its U.S. coach service Greyhound up for sale
and also said it was looking to separate its UK First Bus
operations. Among smaller stocks, De La Rue Plc DLAR.L tanked 19% and
was on course for its worst day since September 2014, after the
banknote and passports maker warned of "somewhat lower" profit
in fiscal 2020 and its chief executive would stepped down.