News: COL UPDATE 1-FTSE 100 rises as pound dips; Ocado, housebuilders rally

• FTSE 100 up 0.4 pct
• Ocado at life high on partnership deal
• Housebuilders gain after HSBC upgrades
• Ferguson drops after profit warning
• ConvaTec surges on M&A talks

(Adds news items, analyst comments, updates share prices)

March 26 (Reuters) - Britain's blue-chip index bounced back from two sessions of losses on Tuesday, as exporters benefited from a weaker sterling after lawmakers voted to take control of the Brexit process and Ocado surged to a life high on its latest partnership deal.

The FTSE 100 .FTSE was up 0.4 percent and the FTSE 250 .FTMC was 0.1 percent higher by 0924 GMT.

However, Dublin's main index .ISEQ , seen as a barometer of Brexit mood, slipped 0.6 percent after touching its lowest since mid-February.

Sterling also fell as lawmakers wrested control of the parliamentary agenda from the government for a day in the hope of breaking the deadlock over Brexit and parliament will hold indicative votes on a range of options on Wednesday.

International companies, which book a large amount of their earnings in the U.S. dollar, were among the among the top performers.

"The pound has continued to absorb most of the political paralysis coming from MPs at Westminster, as headline fatigue starts to become more entrenched amongst currency traders," said CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson.

Online grocer Ocado OCDO.L hit a life high on the main bourse with a 4.3 percent rise after inking a partnership deal with Australia's Coles Group (COL) in its fifth major overseas deal in less than 18 months.

"If it (Ocado) can deliver the goods with existing agreements and keep getting more partners to sign up, it could become as important in grocery as Microsoft's operating system is in computing," said George Salmon, Equity Analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.

Housebuilders, considered to be particularly sensitive to Brexit-related news, rose after bullish comments on the sector and rating upgrades from HSBC. Traders also said parliament's vote to seize control of Brexit process could help the sector.

Persimmon PSN.L , Barratt BDEV.L and Taylor Wimpey TW.L rose between 1.3 percent and 2.5 percent.

But Ferguson FERG.L slid 9.6 percent and was on course for its worst day in three-and-a-half years as the world's largest heating and plumbing equipment supplier said it expected trading profit for the year to be towards the lower end of analysts' expectations.

Among the midcaps, housebuilder Crest Nicholson CRST.L added 7.4 percent, putting it on track for its best day since July 2016, after naming Galliford Try's GFRD.L Peter Truscott as chief executive officer. Galliford shares dipped 2.5 percent.

Medical devices maker ConvaTec CTEC.L surged 7.5 percent and was on course for its biggest one-day gain in more than a year after Swedish business daily Dagens Industri said several players were running the numbers on the company for a possible buyout.

Ailing department store group Debenhams DEB.L saw yet another steep move, jumping nearly 41 percent to 2.18 pence after retail tycoon Mike Ashley's Sports Direct SPD.L said it was considering buying the company.

"While all this plays out, the share price is behaving like a kangaroo in a trampoline park," said Laith Khalaf, Hargreaves Lansdown analyst.

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