LONDON (MarketWatch) — Oil and mining firms led U.K. stocks higher for a second day on Tuesday, as commodity prices continued to rebound after their recent sharp slide. The FTSE 100 index UKX, +1.11% jumped 0.9% to 6,844.85, setting it on track for its highest close in a week. BP PLC BP., +2.29% BP, +2.65% gained 3.7% after the oil giant said it plans to cut spending this year to adjust to the lower oil prices. The company also reported a replacement-cost loss — a figure that strips out inventory changes and is similar to the net income that U.S. companies report — of $969 million for the quarter, compared with a profit of $1.51 billion in the same period last year. Oil prices have slumped around 50% since the summer due to a global supply glut, which has sent crude prices to the lowest they’ve been in almost six years. On Monday, crude futures CLH5, +3.05% moved back above $50 a barrel and continued to climb on Tuesday, up $1.10 to $50.67 a barrel. Other U.K.-listed oil firms were also mostly higher, with Tullow Oil PLC TLW, +2.43% up 2.4% and Royal Dutch Shell PLC RDSB, +2.37% RDS.B, +3.08% rising 2.2%. Shell shook off a downgrade to neutral from overweight by J.P. Morgan Cazenove. BG Group PLC BG., -0.37% inched 0.6% higher, weighed by a $8.9 billion pretax write-down on assets in Australia. Most metals prices were also rising, sending BHP Billiton PLC BLT, +4.95% BHP, +2.12% BHP, +3.55% up 4.6%, Antofagasta PLC ANTO, +4.32% 4.2% higher and Rio Tinto PLC RIO, +2.96% RIO, +2.38% RIO, +1.93% up 3.2%. On a more downbeat note, shares of Aberdeen Asset Management PLC ADN, -2.54% fell 2.4% after the investment manager reported a drop in assets under management for the three months to Dec. 31.

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