British stocks edged up slightly on Wednesday, with the benchmark FTSE100 Index up by 0.2 percent, or 14.09 points, to close at 7,164.43 points.

Shares of mining company Antofagasta soared 8.61 percent, topped the gainers of the blue chips.

Royal Bank of Scotland, Standard Chartered, and St James's Place advanced by 5.37 percent, 5.23 percent, 3.31 percent respectively.

Telecom provider Vodafone Group was the top loser, with its shares plunging 5.07 percent. Other losers included Hikma Pharmaceuticals, down 3.42 percent, Tesco, down 3.36 percent, and Kingfisher, down 3.19 percent.