UPDATE 2-FTSE ends 6-day losing run though earnings disappoint

* FTSE 100 up 0.4%, FTSE 250 up 0.5%
* Glencore slips after HY core profit misses market view
* Spirax-Sarco, Standard Life Aberdeen drop after results
* Investors seek shelter in safe-haven assets
* Upbeat earnings help mid-caps outperform

(Adds news items, analyst comments, updates to closing prices)
By Shashwat Awasthi
Aug 7 (Reuters) - London's FTSE 100 snapped a six-day losing
streak after a topsy-turvy session on Wednesday as investors
composed themselves after sell-offs triggered by worries over
the U.S.-China trade dispute and a weaker sterling supported
exporter stocks.
Though poor earnings for global commodities trader Glencore
and a handful of other companies limited gains, the main index
.FTSE ended 0.4% higher.
The mid-cap FTSE 250 .FTMC rose 0.5%, helped by a
post-earnings jump in Ultra Electronic ULE.L and
infrastructure products maker Hill & Smith HILS.L .
The FTSE 100 has tumbled more than 5% in just a week, after
having gained in six of the first seven months of the year,
following President Donald Trump's threat to slap a 10% tariff
on a further $300 billion in Chinese imports next month.
It had surged as much as 0.9% on Wednesday, but gave up a
lot of those gains as a drop in yields spurred a global rally in
safe-haven, fixed income assets and led investors to pile into
bonds.
"There is a sense the recent bounce is on shaky grounds,"
CMC Markets analyst David Madden said. "The equity benchmarks in
Europe that are higher, are showing small gains, and it doesn't
exactly project an air of confidence."
In news-driven moves, Glencore GLEN.L weighed on the
blue-chip index as it fell 2.5% and hit a near three-year low
after an almost one-third drop in core profit. Valve maker Spirax-Sarco SPX.L slid 6.4% on its worst day
in more than a decade after it warned sales growth at its main
business would more than halve in the second half of the year.
Asset manager Standard Life Aberdeen SLA.L gave up 7.5%
despite an increase in first-half assets under management and
administration. Though traders refrained from dumping sterling, the currency
remained subdued amid fears of a no-deal Brexit and its
implications. Shares of internationally-focused companies such
as Diageo DGE.L , BAT BATS.L and Unilever ULVR.L advanced.
On the mid-cap index, Hill & Smith surged 7.8%, while Ultra
Electronics soared 11.4%, after both firms posted higher
half-year results.
AIM-listed Burford Capital BURF.L slumped 46% and shed
roughly two billion pounds of its market capitalisation after
short-seller Muddy Waters criticised the firm's accounts and
took a short position in the fund.