Aug 25 (Reuters) - The main UK stock indexes closed higher on Tuesday, as housing stocks were lifted by the British government's plans to spend £10 billion on lower-cost housing, while investors awaited key events later in the week.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 index (.FTSE), rose 0.3% to 10,886.16 points, while the mid-cap FTSE 250 (.FTMC), climbed 0.6% to 24,856.05 points.
Britain set out plans to spend £10 billion ($13.6 billion) on lower-cost housing for renters, with a focus on London. Around 60% of homes delivered through the funding would be for social rent, a subsidised cheaper form of rent that can be built by local councils or housing associations.
The homebuilders index (.FTNMX402020), rose 2.5% after the announcement. Vistry (VTYV.L), jumped 16.3%, leading gains in the mid-cap index, after it received initial funding of £350 million ($477.19 million) to deliver over 3,000 affordable homes as part of the plan.
Industrial miners Glencore (GLEN.L), and Anglo American (AAL.L), rose about 2% each as copper prices rose to their highest in a week.
Meanwhile, shares of energy majors BP (BP.L), and Shell (SHEL.L), dipped as oil prices fell more than 3%, with traders shrugging off the latest U.S. sanctions campaign against Iran, viewing the economic pressure as posing less risk to oil supplies than a military escalation.
Investors will closely watch chipmaker Nvidia's (NVDA.O), earnings due Wednesday. The results are viewed as a major test of the AI rally as investors worry about whether the chipmaker can meet Wall Street's lofty expectations.
Market participants will also look for clues on the path of U.S. interest rates when Federal Reserve Chairman Kevin Warsh speaks in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, on Friday.
Shares of Melrose Industries (MRON.L), rose 10.4% after the GKN Aerospace owner said it was targeting September 28 to resume full production at its Garden Grove facility.
Next (NXT.L), climbed 2.4% after Citigroup upgraded the clothing retailer's stock to buy from neutral.
£1 = $1.36
Reporting by Anand Gopal and Sruthi Shankar in Bengaluru; Editing by Tasim Zahid and Lisa Shumaker
