Britain's FTSE rises as Ashtead, oil majors gain

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* FTSE 100 up 0.1 pct

* Ashtead jumps after results

* Precious metals miners, oil majors gain

* Worldpay falls after investor sells stake

By Kit Rees

LONDON, Sept 7 (Reuters) - UK shares rose on Wednesday, supported by a rise in precious metals miners and oil stocks as well as a surge in equipment rentals firm Ashtead.

The blue chip FTSE 100 index was up 0.1 percent at 6,835.74 points by 0917 GMT, in line with the broader European market.

Ashtead soared 7.2 percent, poised for its biggest daily gain since December 2015 after reporting a robust set of first quarter results which included a 4 percent rise in underlying pretax profit.

The group said that it expected full-year results to be ahead of its forecasts. Its U.S (Other OTC: UBGXF - news) . division, Sunbelt, which accounts for about 86 percent of revenue, reported a 14.2 percent rise in underlying pretax profit.

"They're very upbeat on their outlook, which is ... the main reason why their shares have responded today," Ian Forrest, investment research analyst at The Share Centre, said.

"It can be a very cyclical business this, and they've invested quite a lot in equipment recently so the market (is) very keen to see that's going to prove to be worthwhile, so it does look as if that is really paying off for them now."

Commodities-related stocks also rose, with precious metals miners Randgold Resources and Fresnillo (Frankfurt: A0MVZE - news) in demand, both up 2 percent and 1.4 percent respectively after the price of gold hit more than a two-week high after disappointing U.S. economic data reinforced expectations the U.S. Federal Reserve will keep interest rates on hold in September.

The weaker U.S. economic data sent the dollar lower, which in turn supported oil prices and helped the likes of Royal Dutch Shell (LSE: RDSB.L - news) and BP to gain 1.6 percent and 1.4 percent respectively.

Among the fallers, Worldpay Group (Other OTC: WDDYF - news) dropped 3.5 percent after its largest shareholder cut its stake in the payments company.

British housebuilders were also under pressure, after Barratt Developments (Frankfurt: 859551 - news) posted its results, with its shares down 1.5 percent.

The drop in the firm shares came despite Barratt saying that it was "business as usual" since the Britain's June vote to leave the European Union, and said that sales had risen during July and August.

"We still believe that it is dangerous to assume there is absolutely no risk from Brexit and to restore valuations bases," Robin Hardy, analyst at Shore Capital Markets, said in a note.

"We do not see Barratt being as financially robust as a number of its peers and while there is scope for a sustained level of dividends to be paid, Barratt has a shorter land bank and more land creditors to fund and with still high demands on free cash from working capital."

Outside of the blue chips, CMC Markets (LSE: CMCX.L - news) slumped 11.7 percent, set for its biggest daily loss since listing in February after warning on first-half net operating income due to lower volatility.

A disappointing update also weighed on Sports Direct's shares, which dropped 9.9 percent, its worst day since the EU referendum, after the retailer lowered its guidance for 2017.

(Reporting by Kit Rees; Editing by Toby Chopra)