Miners boost London's commodity-heavy FTSE 100

(Reuters) - UK's FTSE 100 edged higher on Tuesday, lifted by miners, while investors awaited a statement from the Bank of England's chief economist later in the day for further details on the central bank's response to the recent turmoil.

The benchmark FTSE 100 rose 0.2%, while the FTSE 250 gained 0.7%, as of 0710 GMT.

The Bank of England said on Monday it would not hesitate to change interest rates and was monitoring markets "very closely", after the pound and British bond prices plunged to record lows following the new government's financial plans.

Investors will be closely watching the policy forum scheduled at 1100 GMT where BoE chief economist Huw Pill is expected to state the central bank's response to the recent turmoil.

Mining stocks advanced 1.5%, tracking metal prices as a softer dollar made the greenback-priced metal cheaper to holders of other currencies. [MET/L]

Lloyds Banking slipped 0.3% after Halifax said it had temporarily withdrawn from the market all of its mortgage products that came with a fee, in response to the turmoil in British funding markets.

(Reporting by Johann M Cherian in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)