Miners of all shapes and sizes were leading shares higher on Wednesday after upbeat consumer news from China.
The sector gained as better-than-expected Chinese retail sales gave traders hope that shoppers in the Asian powerhouse were buying more goods.
Anglo American (LON:AAL) gained 2.95 points to 494.7p, Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) climbed 13.5p to 2332p and Antofagasta (LON:ANTO) put on 9.3p to 507p.
Elsewhere, shares in Lonmin (LON:LMI) recovered recent losses with a 1.1p, or 11.7%, gain to 10.5p.
And Lesotho-focused Gem Diamonds (LON:GEMD) sparkled 3.75p to 103p after reporting firm prices, lower costs and higher production in the third quarter.
The FTSE 100 Index was 39.57 points ahead at 6314 while the CAC-40 in Paris lifted 51 points and Frankfurt's Dax soared 135 points.
It wasn't all good news out of Beijing, however. Chinese industrial production for October came in at 5.6%, down from 5.7% in September and shy of forecasts for a 5.8% rise.
In the UK, official figures showed unemployment at its lowest since spring 2008, but wage growth slowed.
Meanwhile, European Central Bank president Mario Draghi told a conference in London that a fully-integrated European banking union was essential for a healthy eurozone.
Banks took the cue, with Barclays (LON:BARC) rising 4.2p to 234.8p, HSBC (LON:HSBA) gaining 4.5p to 527.9p, RBS (LON:RBS) advancing 1p to 313.3p and Lloyds Banking Group (LON:LLOY) up 0.61p at 73.57p.
On the markets, troubled telecom company TalkTalk raced 25.4p or 11.7% ahead to 242.7p as it estimated the cost of the recent database cyber-attack in which information on thousands of its customers was hacked at between £30-35mln.
Sainsbury's ticked up 14.1p to 258.5p despite news of an 18% fall in first-half profits to £308mln, as well as a 1p cut in the interim dividend to 4p.
SABMiller (LON:SAB) fizzed up 103p to 4079p as rival AB Inbev formally announced a £71bn takeover offer for the Peroni brewer.
Elsewhere, Jubilee Platinum (LON:JLP ) brightened 0.08p to 3.5p after it said it remained committed to the platinum business despite the recent weakness in the price of the precious metal.
Wildhorse Energy (LON:WHE) cantered 0.5p to 8.88p after saying that a maiden mineral resource at Lake Wells in Western Australia had confirmed it as one of the world’s largest undeveloped salt lake brine potash deposits.
LONDON OPEN
Blue-chips got off to a bright start on Wednesday as markets shrugged off mixed Chinese economic data.
The FTSE 100 Index surged 43.78 points to 6319 while the CAC-40 in Paris lifted 41 points and Frankfurt's Dax soared 140 points.
Chinese industrial production for October came in at 5.6%, down from 5.7% in September and shy of forecasts for a 5.8% rise.
But miners were on the up after Chinese retail sales came in slightly higher than expected at 11%.
Nevertheless, Anglo American (LON:AAL) gained 2.35 points to 494.1p, Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) climbed 5.5p to 2324p and Glencore (LON:GLEN) put on 0.8p to 105.85p.
In the UK, official figures showed unemployment at its lowest since spring 2008, but wage growth slowed.
On the markets, troubled telecom company TalkTalk raced 26.7p or 12.3% ahead to 244p as it estimated the cost of the recent database cyber-attack in which information on thousands of its customers was hacked at between £30-35mln.
Sainsbury's ticked up 1.3p to 273.9p despite news of an 18% fall in first-half profits to £308mln, as well as a 1p cut in the interim dividend to 4p.
SABMiller (LON:SAB) fizzed up 100p to 4076p as rival AB Inbev formally announced a £71bn takeover offer for the Peroni brewer.
Ophir Energy (LON:OPHR) spurted 6.35p to 100.7p after finalising commercial terms with a shortlisted group of possible offtake partners for liquefied natural gas from the Fortuna project in Equatorial Guinea.
Elsewhere, Jubilee Platinum (LON:JLP ) brightened 0.02p to 3.45p after it said it remained committed to the platinum business despite the recent weakness in the price of the precious metal.
Wildhorse Energy (LON:WHE) cantered 0.75p ahead to 9.12p after saying that a maiden mineral resource at Lake Wells in Western Australia had confirmed it as one of the world’s largest undeveloped salt lake brine potash deposits.
MARKET PREVIEW
Markets in London are set to rise when trading gets underway despite a mixed performance overnight in both Asia and the US.
Financial spread bet firms see the FTSE 100 adding up to 30 points and reversing losses seen on Tuesday, when the index closed 20 points down at 6,275.
US markets were largely flat with the Dow Jones Industrial Average adding 28 points while there was a modest decline on the Nasdaq and the S&P was flat.
Asian markets were influenced by another slowing in industrial production in China, where October saw a 5.6% rise compared to 5.7% the month previously and forecasts of a rise to 5.8%.
Retail sales remained strong, nonetheless, rising 11%.
Overnight, Shanghai was little changed, while there were modest gains in Tokyo and a small loss in Hong Kong.
Supermarket chain Sainsbury’s (LON:SBRY) is the focus in UK company news this morning.
The retail group modestly upgraded full-year profit expectations at the end of September after sales and cost savings topped hopes.
Analysts duly upped their forecasts, lifting the consensus to £573mln from £548mln, with a half-year estimate of £269mln – down nearly 30% year-on-year.
Hargreaves Lansdown's Keith Bowman said: "Having flagged “an improvement in our key trading metrics” at the Q2 update, management outlook comments will be closely scrutinised.”
Recently hacked telecoms firm TalkTalk (LON:TALK) will also issue an update.