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FTSE 100 up 0.3%, FTSE 250 down 0.02%

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Industrial metal miners jump on copper gains

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Defence sector gains after Trump's comments on Ukraine

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JD Sports Fashion reports 13.5% fall in first-half profit

(Updates after markets close)

Sept 24 (Reuters) -

Britain's FTSE 100 closed higher on Wednesday, led by miners

and defence stocks, while investors assessed corporate updates

and measured comments by Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell.

The benchmark FTSE 100 reversed earlier losses to

gain 0.3%.

An index of industrial metal miners rose 3%

after copper prices on the London Metal Exchange jumped to their

highest level in over 15 months.

Antofagasta ( ANFGF ) gained the most in the FTSE 100 with a

9.3% rise, while Glencore ( GLCNF ) added nearly 3%.

Miner Anglo American rose 4.7% after Angola's state

diamond firm Endiama bid for a minority stake in its diamond

unit - De Beers.

The aerospace and defence sector rose 1.3%,

mirroring gains in European peers after U.S. President Donald

Trump, in an abrupt rhetorical shift, said he believed Ukraine

could retake all of its territory now occupied by Russia.

Babcock International Group ( BCKIF ) was among the top FTSE

gainers, up 4.3%, while BAE Systems rose 2.2%.

Wall Street's main indexes were subdued in choppy trading on

the day.

Traders were digesting comments made on Tuesday by Powell,

who said the central bank needed to continue balancing the

competing risks of high inflation and a weakening job market in

its coming interest rate decisions - offering little clarity on

the future path of rates.

Still, investors expect the U.S. central bank to cut

interest rates in its remaining two meetings of the year.

Among individual stocks, Britain's JD Sports Fashion

reported a 13.5% fall in first-half profit. Shares of the

British sportswear retailer were down 0.8%.

The domestically focused FTSE 250 closed down 0.02%.

Pinewood Technologies ( PINWF ) slipped the most in the FTSE

250, down 14.9%, after the British auto retailer projected its

2025 EBITDA below analysts' consensus, according to Berenberg.

Baltic Classifieds Group's fell 5.1%, after the

company reported results below expectations.

Conversely, Goodwin jumped 19.7% in the FTSE 250,

after the mechanical engineering firm announced that its unit -

Goodwin Steel Castings, had entered a strategic collaboration

with Northrop Grumman International Trading.