The FTSE 100 (^FTSE) jumped higher on Wednesday, boosted by rallying oil and mining stocks.

The FTSE had gained half a per cent by lunchtime in London. The index was initially boosted by Royal Dutch Shell (RDSB.L) before surging mining stocks took over the lead.

Oil major rose over 2% in early trade after announcing plans to hike payouts to shareholders later this month. Shell said it would increase distributions to between 20% and 30% of cashflow from its operations thanks to a rebound in its core business and an improving outlook. The stock pulled back to trade up 1.5% by lunchtime.

Rival BP (BP.L) rallied 0.7% on the back of Shell's announcement. Both stocks also benefited from rising oil prices. Brent futures (BZ=F) were up 1.5% in early trade to reach $75.66 a barrel.

Mining and resources stocks were in demand in London. Anglo American (AAL.L) led the FTSE leaderboard by lunchtime with a gain of 3%. BHP (BHP.L) rose 2.4%, Rio Tinto (RIO.L) was 2% higher, and steel business Evraz (EVR.L) rose 1.9%.

Stocks were catching bids on the continent too. France's CAC 40 (^FCHI) was up 0.1% in early trade and the German DAX (^GDAXI) rose 0.9%. Demand for resources helped the German index too, with Heidelberg Cement (HEI.DE) shooting up 4.4%.

Markets were mostly lower in Asia overnight. Japan's Nikkei (^N225) fell 1% as the country's leading economic index came in lower than expected. South Korea's KOSPI (^KS11) slipped 0.6%. On the Chinese mainland, the Shanghai Composite (000001.SS) rallied 0.7% and the Shenzen Component (399001.SZ) gained 1.8%.

The Hong Kong Hang Seng (^HSI) dropped 1% amid mounting fears about Chinese action against tech giants such as Alibaba (9988.HK) and Didi (DIDI). 

Shares in ride-hailing giant Didi crashed 20% in its New York IPO after Chinese regulators opened a data probe of the company and called for its removal from the country's app store. The stock was down another 3.9% in the pre-market.

Wall Street looks set for a higher open. S&P 500 futures (ES=F) were up 0.2%, Dow futures (YM=F) were up 0.1%, and Nasdaq futures (NQ=F) ticked 0.5% higher.

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