UK"s FTSE 100 rose to near three-week highs on Tuesday, boosted by mining stocks and positive earnings outlooks, with global markets taking relief from receding concerns about the Omicron variant of the coronavirus. The FTSE 100 (.FTSE) added 1.2% in morning trade. Plumbing parts distributor Ferguson (FERG.L) advanced 4.4% to the top of the index after a strong revenue growth forecast. Rental equipment provider Ashtead Group PLC (AHT.L) rose 2.7% after raising dividend and saying it expects full-year results ahead of previous estimates. "Ferguson spun-off its UK-based operation Wolseley, so it"s now just a U.S.-based company, and Ashtead also has a very big presence in the U.S.," said Michael Hewson, chief markets analyst at CMC Markets. "They"re essentially leveraging a decent recovery in the U.S. economy and that"s why they are posting decent gains." Base metal miners (.FTNMX551020) led gains on the commodity-heavy FTSE 100 as copper prices were boosted by monetary policy easing in top consumer China. The FTSE 100 has rebounded to levels touched before the detection of the Omicron variant in late-November after experts said the new strain might not be as severe as feared. read more The domestically focussed mid-cap index (.FTMC) advanced 1.0%, with travel and leisure stocks (.FTNMX405010) recovering 1.5% after getting hammered recently on fears of tighter travel restrictions. British American Tobacco (BATS.L) gained 1.9% after reiterating its full-year profit and sales forecasts, as more people switched to its Vuse vaping and Velo oral nicotine products. read more Heavyweight drugmaker AstraZeneca (AZN.L) declined 1.5% after brokerage Jefferies downgraded the stock saying its earnings per share is set to decline to single-digit growth beyond 2026. Travel and Leisure stocks have fallen 7.7% YTD, underperforming the 12.8% rise in FTSE 250 and 13.2% rise in FTSE 100 this year Reporting by Bansari Mayur Kamdar in Bengaluru; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu and Uttaresh.V Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.