THE London market edged back into positive territory as a rise in the price of oil eased the pressure on top-flight stocks.

Benchmark Brent crude stepped up nearly 1% to 44.35 US dollars (£30.85) a barrel, rebounding from earlier falls when Kuwait oil workers called off a three-day strike, which had been keeping oil prices afloat after talks on a production freeze ended in stalemate over the weekend.

The FTSE 100 Index was up 4.9 points to 6410.3, having hit a fresh four-month high on Tuesday, closing above 6400 for the first time since early December.

Across Europe, Germany's Dax was up 0.7% and the Cac 40 in France climbed 0.6%.

Sterling came under pressure after official figures revealed unemployment increased for the first time since August 2015.

The Office for National Statistics said the jobless total jumped by 21,000 between December and February to 1.7 million, while the number of people claiming unemployment-related benefits increased by 6,700 in March to 732,100.

The pound edged lower to just under 1.44 US dollars (£1), while the pound was up 1.26 against the euro.

Telecoms giant BT and Paddy Power Betfair were among the biggest fallers after being hit with broker downgrades, dropping 12.9p to 438.3p and 405p to 8925p respectively.

Jefferies cut its recommendation on BT to hold from buy and said the outlook for BT is looking increasingly uncertain.

Meanwhile, Credit Suisse handed Paddy Power Betfair an under-perform recommendation because it said the benefits of its recent tie-up had been "exaggerated" by the market.

Apple chip maker ARM Holdings fell back from gains earlier in the session amid investor concerns over a slowdown in the smartphone market.

Shares were down 10p to 954p despite posting a forecast-beating 14% hike in underlying first-quarter profits to £137.5 million.

Elsewhere, Punch Taverns surged more than 11% or 11.5p to 108.5p, as it insisted it was making good progress on its strategy despite revealing underlying earnings fell from £105 million to £94 million in the first half of the year.

The firm said it had sold off a number of less profitable pubs as it attempted to cut its £1.4 billion debt pile.

Online fashion group N Brown was the biggest faller in the FTSE 250 Index, plunging more than 12% after it reported a 2% fall in annual underlying pre-tax profits to £84.5 million and said trading since the year end had been "subdued".

Shares dropped 40.6p to 275p.

Metro Bank was 33p higher at 2040p as it kicked off life as a listed company with a record first-quarter performance and narrowed losses.

The challenger bank, which floated in March, trimmed underlying losses by 7% to £7.9 million, although £3.2 million in costs for its stock market listing saw it post bottom-line losses of £11.1 million.

It said customer savings deposits surged by £790 million in the first three months of 2016 to £5.9 billion and attracted a record 62,000 new customers in the quarter, while net lending more than doubled year on year to £4.1 billion.

The biggest risers in the FTSE 100 Index were Anglo American up 39.5p to 792p, Rio Tinto up 90.5p to 2423.5p, BHP Billiton up 32.5p to 997p, Standard Chartered up 17.1p to 559p.

The biggest fallers were Hargreaves Lansdown down 61p to 1314p, Paddy Power Betfair down 405p to 8925p, BT Group down 12.9p to 438.3p, Associated British Foods down 83p to 3330p.