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• FTSE 100 up 0.6 pct
• FTSE 250 up 0.9 pct
• Miners, oil top gainers
• Homebuilders up despite weak data

Jan 4 (Reuters) - UK shares rose early on Friday as news of a new round of talks between China and the United States raised hopes of a resolution to their protracted trade spat which shook the global markets for most of last year.

The FTSE 100 .FTSE was up 0.6 percent and the FTSE 250 .FTMC rose 0.9 percent by 0847 GMT, ahead of consumer credit data scheduled later in the morning.

The blue chips were on track for their biggest weekly gain in two months, showing some resilience to a slew of bad macroeconomic and corporate news from China and the United States in the first few days of 2019.

Beijing said it would hold vice ministerial level trade talks with Washington next week, pushing Asian shares higher and easing nerves of investors who have worried the tussle between the world's two largest economies will slow the global economy.

British stocks with more exposure to Asia rose as a result, with HSBC HSBA.L and Standard Chartered adding 1.2 percent and 2.4 percent, respectively, while luxury goods maker Burberry BRBY.L gained nearly 1.1 percent.

Whitbread WTB.L shares rose 2.4 percent after Barclays raised its rating and said the restaurant and hotel owner was its preferred hotel pick, while J Sainsbury SBRY.L fell 2 percent after a HSBC downgrade.

Oil prices also edged up after news of the upcoming trade talks, boosting heavyweights BP BP.L and Shell RDSa.L by 2.2 percent and 1.4 percent.

Miners saw some comeback after a dismal last session, with Glencore GLEN.L , Rio Tinto RIO.L , BHP BHPB.L and Antofagasta ANTO.L all gaining on the back of higher copper prices.

Sentiment was largely positive among the mid-caps too with oil firms topping the gainers.

Circassia Pharmaceuticals CIRCI.L tanked as much as 16 percent to record lows after the small-cap stuck to its 2019 targets ahead of a shareholder meeting later in the day.

Elsewhere, house-builder shares shrugged off a dismal house price data and gained on the Times report http//www.thetimes.co.uk/edition/bricks-mortar/what-2019-has-in-store-for-house-prices-l78d8wd7h that said demand may improve if a Brexit deal is struck.

Persimmon PSN.L , Berkeley BKGH.L , Barratt BDEV.L and Taylor Wimpey TW.L all rose 1.6-2 percent on the main index while mid-caps Bovis Homes BVS.L , Crest Nicholson CRST.L rose 3.4 percent and 2.4 percent, respectively.

British house prices rose at their slowest annual pace in nearly six years in December, raising further concerns about a housing market that has cooled since the Brexit vote in 2016.

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UK stock report FTSE index: 0#.FTS6

 techMARK 100 index:  .FTT1X		  FTSE future	  0#FFI:   
 Gilt future		0#FLG:		  Smallcap index:	 .FTSC   
 FTSE 250 index:	  .FTMC		   FTSE 350 index:	 .FTLC   
 Market digest:	   .AD.L		   Top 10 by vol:	  .AV.L   
 Top price gainer   .NG.L		   Top % gainer	  .PG.L   
 Top price loser	.NL.L		   Top % loser	   .PL.L   
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FTSE Eurotop 300 index........................... .FTEU3 DJ STOXX index................................... .STOXX Top 10 STOXX sectors........................ .PGL.STOXXS Top 10 EUROSTOXX sectors................... .PGL.STOXXES Top 10 Eurotop 300 sectors.................. .PGL.FTEU3S Top 25 European pct gainers.................... .PG.PEUR Top 25 European pct losers..................... .PL.PEUR ))