The FTSE 100 rose 0.1% in the morning.
Today’s update on the UK producer price index showed an unexpected declined from 4% in October to 3.9% in November.
Mining major Vedanta Resources (LON:VED) led the blue chips with a 2.4% gain. Peer Eurasian Natural Resources (LON:ENRC) climbed 1.4%, as did beverage group Diageo (LON:DGE) and Associated British Foods.
Power generation company International Power (LON:IPR) followed, rising 1.6%.
Another mining company Anglo American (LON:AAL) advanced 1.2%.
Defence and aerospace systems manufacturer BAE Systems (LON:BA) was up 1.1%.
Standard Chartered (LON:STAN) was at the bottom of the pile with a 2.7% loss. Bank of America Merrill Lynch downgraded the bank from “buy” to “neutral” on the back of yesterday’s trading update.
Oil and gas producers BG Group (LON:BG) and BP (LON:BP) declined 1.5% and 1.2% respectively. Peer Cairn Energy (LON:CNE) lost 1.1%, as did gold producer African Barrick Gold (LON:ABG).
France’s CAC 40 climbed 0.3%, Germany’s DAX advanced 0.6% and Spain’s IBEX 35 declined 0.5%.
China’s Shanghai Composite Index advanced 1.1%, while other Asian markets were in selling mode.
China’s surplus was reported to be US$22.9 billion in November, which was lower than October’s US$27.2 billion, but still topped expectations. Exports and imports reached a new record at US$283.7 billion.
Hong Kong’s Hang Seng declined marginally, South Korea’s KOSPI shed 0.15% and Japan’s Nikkei 225 slipped 0.7%.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 tacked on 0.1%.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average, the S&P 500 index and the NASDAQ composite are expected to open with small gains today.
The macroeconomic data due to be release din the US today includes US trade balance, the University of Michigan consumer confidence index, exports and imports and Treasury budget statement.