Britain's FTSE edges higher, boosted by rebound in miners

* Blue-chip FTSE 100 index up 0.3 pct

* Miners reverse recent drift, top gainers

* BT gains as EE owners confirm M&A talks

* TUI (Xetra: TUAG00 - news) suffers from Thomas Cook (Xetra: A0MR3W - news) slump (Updates prices to midday)

By Sam Wilkin

LONDON, Nov 26 (Reuters) - Britain's top share index rose on Wednesday, boosted by a rebound in miners and strength in telecoms, although travel stocks were hit by a slump in mid-cap peer Thomas Cook.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 index was up 0.3 percent at 6,748.78 points at 1155 GMT.

The UK mining index rose 0.9 percent, while copper miner Antofagasta (Other OTC: ANFGF - news) was the top gainer on the wider index, up 4.2 percent. Gold miner Randgold Resources rose 1.6 percent.

The recent slide in miners' share prices has exceeded a concurrent fall in base metals prices. While the sector is 2.9 percent lower this quarter, copper is down just 1.4 percent over the same period.

"Commodity related stocks are trading at a significant discount to commodity prices, so they look cheap and that's why we're seeing demand for those stocks while not seeing a corresponding pick up in commodities themselves," Manoj Ladwa, head of trading at TJM Partners, said.

"If China continues to stimulate the economy more, we believe that commodity stocks will start to shift back up more meaningfully."

BT continued to gather strength, up 2.1 percent after EE's German and French owners confirmed on Wednesday they were in talks to sell Britain's biggest mobile network operator to BT as part of a wider review of its options.

The stock has risen more than 7 percent since last Friday, as traders are encouraged by signs that it will undertake a strategically beneficial tie-up to enter the mobile market.

Sky (LSE: SKY.L - news) extended the previous session's gains and was up 1.9 percent, with traders saying that BT's likely move to focus on the mobile market may divert its attention from Sky's key interest, pay TV. Telecoms giant Vodafone Group rose 1.2 percent.

Top faller on the FTSE 100 was TUI Travel (LSE: TT.L - news) , down 1.5 percent, with traders citing read-across from sector rival Thomas Cook.

FTSE 250-listed Thomas Cook was down 20 percent on Wednesday after it said its chief executive Harriet Green was stepping down just as the company warned of tougher trading conditions next year. (Additional reporting by Alistair Smout; Editing by Toby Chopra)