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* FTSE 100, FTSE 250 up 0.2%
* Britain goes to polls
* John Laing lags mid-caps
Dec 12 (Reuters) - UK shares inched higher in thin trading
on Thursday as Britons begin casting their votes in a general
election that could decide the fate of Brexit.
The FTSE 100 .FTSE added 0.3% by 0809 GMT, boosted by
financial stocks and miners, though a stronger sterling hit
exporters such as British American Tobacco BATS.L and capped
gains.
The more domestically-inclined FTSE 250 .FTMC advanced
0.2%, while infrastructure firm John Laing JLG.L
underperformed with a near 8% drop after saying it expects
annual net asset value to miss market estimates. Polls in the run-up to the election had indicated that Boris
Johnson's Conservative Party would win a majority, but recent
estimates have shown that its lead over the opposition Labour
Party narrow, stoking worries of a hung parliament.