The FTSE 100 Index closed at its highest level for more than a month last night after investors took a more favourable view of miners and firms trading in commodities.

Steel giant Corus and mining group Antofagasta each shook off recent weakness to head the charts, while BP and Shell held on to gains despite a report showing that US oil inventories rose more than expected last week.

The Footsie ended the session 50.9 points higher at 4949.4.

The announcement that only one member of the Bank of England's monetary policy committee wanted higher borrowing costs at its monthly meeting last week also helped lift shares as it weakened the case for a fresh rise in interest rates.

Corus drew a line under the recent poor performance of its share price which has seen it lose a third of its value since the middle of February.

Shares in Corus rose 1.75p to 43.5p, and were tracked higher by other stocks exposed to the commodity markets such as copper mining group Antofagasta, up 39p at 1100p.

BP and Shell both rose 8.5p to 542p and 472p respectively even though the cost of crude weakened after the US Department of Energy said inventories rose by 4.3 million barrels

last week. Sainsbury's added 0.75p to 288.5p after reporting the first benefits of a turnaround strategy after a 62 per cent slump in annual profits to £254 million.

Another company doing well was telecoms group O2, which advanced 2p to 116.5p after saying full-year profits had tripled to £309 million.

And Scottish & Southern Energy was also ahead after it said profits had risen 17.2 per cent on the back of higher customer numbers and power station acquisitions. Shares added 23.5p to 966.5p.

In contrast, Compass Group restrained progress after the caterer capped a disappointing first-half performance with a 7.8 per cent drop in pretax profits.

The news sent its shares to the top of the Footsie fallers board, down 13.25p to 222.75p.

Clothing giant Next also fared poorly - down 39p to 1466p - after reporting a 3.2 per cent retreat in like-for-like sales over the past 15 weeks.

Yellow Pages owner Yell was the fourth heaviest top-flight faller after it lost gains prompted by Tuesday's news of a deal worth £829 million for a leading directories publisher in California and Texas.

Yell weakened two per cent, down 7.75p to 407.25p.

Biggest risers were Corus up 1.75p at 43.5p, Wolseley ahead by 41p at 1115p, Antofagasta up 39p to 1100p and InterContinental Hotels rising 20p to 639.5p.

Biggest fallers were Compass Group, down 13.25p to 222.75p, Next weakening 39p to 1466p, Unilever falling 10.5p to 538.5p and Yell Group shedding 7.75p to 407.25p.