(For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock markets, click or type LIVE/ in a news window)

* FTSE 100 up 0.6%, FTSE 250 adds 0.3%

* AstraZeneca up on deal to buy Gracell Biotechnologies

* Darktrace rises on Lynch's stake disclosure

* Anglo American rises on report of plan to sell stake in UK mine

* FTSE 250 hits highest since March 2023

Dec 27 (Reuters) - British equities moved higher on Wednesday led by a rise in metal miners, while investors latched on to the year-end optimism that major central banks including the Bank of England could begin cutting interest rates in the upcoming year.

By 9:38 GMT, the blue-chip FTSE 100 rose 0.6% and FTSE 250 midcap index was up 0.3%, touching its highest level since March 2023.

Precious metal miners moved 1.2% higher, mainly supported by expectations of interest rate cuts in the U.S. next year.

Shares in industrial metal miners added 1.3%, leading sectoral gains, as prices of most base metals rose after data showed manufacturing activity in top consumer China improved last month, while a weak U.S. dollar also lent support to the market.

"The Chinese government is now boosting the industrial side of the things, reverting back from their focus on consumers because that's obviously not working well," said Ipek Ozkardeskaya, senior market analyst at Swissquote Bank.

"But the truth of the matter is they are not necessarily on the investor side, they do have their own agenda".

The automobile and parts sector was the biggest outlier, slipping 0.3%.

The FTSE 100 is set to end the year on a higher note, driven by expectations that the Fed could begin cutting rates as early as March, with other central bankers to follow.

In corporate news, Anglo American shares climbed 3.4% to the top of the FTSE 100 index on a report that the miner was looking to sell part of its stake in a $9 billion UK mining project.

Darktrace was up 2.5% on news that tech entrepreneur Michael Lynch had disclosed a 3.92% stake in the cyber-security company.

AstraZeneca's shares gained 1.3% after a deal to buy Gracell Biotechnologies for up to $1.2 billion as the pharma company furthers its cell therapy ambitions and boosts its presence in China.

The broader pharma and biotech index advanced 0.9%. (Reporting by Khushi Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Sonia Cheema and Shailesh Kuber)