The FTSE 100 came off the top in the afternoon session after venturing back above 6,000 earlier in the day.
The FTSE 100 closed at 5,961, up 32 points on the day, helped by a 4% gain for index heavyweight BP (LON:BP.).
Sports Direct (LON:SPD) was the second best performing blue-chip, climbing 3.4% after announcing it had bought strategic stakes in two US retailers, one of which is the splendidly named Dick's Sporting Goods.
If BP was enjoying life as king of the Footsie castle, it was a good day for minnows in the sector.
LGO Energy (LON:LGO) shot up 36.8% as speculators took a chance that news is imminent on from the company, which put itself up for sale a month ago.
Aminex (LON:AEX) charged 15.0% higher after it signed a gas sales agreement for the Kiliwani North gas field, which means it can begin production and generate its first revenues from Tanzania.
Rockhopper Exploration (LON:RKH) leapt 14.8%; the Falklands-focused explorer revealing plans have been upgraded for the first phase of the Sea Lion oil field development, in the North Falkland basin.
Mid-session
London’s investors were in decent cheer as resources stocks rallied and US markets looked set to open higher.
FTSE 100 was up 66 points at 5,994, with oil companies and miners leading the way after better than expected trade numbers from China provided some respite.
Not even another dire prediction from SocGen’s house ‘bear’ Albert Edwards could deflate the mood.
The analyst expects US shares to lose 75% of their value as we head for a repeat of the 1930s.
Miners have pretty much lost that amount already and Rio Tinto (LON:RIO), up 4% to 1,720p, had overtaken Anglo American (LON:AAl), up 2% to 238.8p, as the index leader by lunchtime.
Most major metal plays were in the black. Glencore (LON:GLEN) added 3% to 74.2p and BHP Billiton (LON:BLT) 2% to 630.4p.
Oilers were also having a good day. After briefly dipping below US$30 per barrel overnight, crude prices recovered as the US inventory numbers were weaker than expected.
It was the first rise in the crude price for eight days and sparked a better mood among sector followers.
A reassuring statement from Tullow Oil (LON;TLW) also helped. The Irish firm has US$1.9bn of headroom it said today, which it reckons is enough financial firepower to withstand the current turbulence.
It sent its shares 10% higher to 136p.
In sympathy, Royal Dutch Shell (LON:RDSB) added 2.8% to 1,388p while BP (LON:BP.) rose 3.2% to 333.5p.
M&A activity is also returning with Premier Oil (LON:PMO) suspended at 19p ahead of a major deal that was reported to be the acquisition of German utility Eon’s North Sea assets.
Premier should have had a good day as its Falkland Island’s partner Rockhopper (LON:RKH) jumped 11% to 30p on significant reductions in the costs for the Sea Lion prospect in the South Atlantic. Premier is the operator of Sea Lion.
Another North Sea operator, Independent Oil & Gas (LON:IOG), did not fare so well, tumbling 40% to 5.07p as a planned appraisal well on the Skipper field was postponed.
After the fireworks from Morrisons (LON:MRW) yesterday, rival Sainsbury’s (LON:SBRY) numbers received a cooler response.
The chain, which has been doing better than rivals in the battle against discounters, said total third quarter retail sales rose 0.8% excluding fuel against the same period a year ago, although they fell 0.7% including fuel.
While it said it was still mulling a bid for Argos owner Home Retail (LON:HOME), it would not overpay it said.
Sainsbury would need to pay over 200p to have a chance of a successful bid, according to fund managers quoted recently.
Shares in Sainsbury fell 1.7% to 247p, while Home Retail climbed 5& to 149p.
Tesco (LON;TSCO) added another 3% to 160.5p after a 7% rise Tuesday. Word is that its trading update tomorrow will pleasantly surprise.
Other retailers going well included Shoezone (LON:SHOE), where a surprise special dividend meant a 14% jump to 190p.
Mike Ashley’s Sports Direct, meanwhile, shrugged off last week’s profit warning to take a 2.3% stake in US retailer Dick’s Sporting Goods, which has more than 500 stores across the US.
Sports Direct also raised its stake in Umbro owner Iconix to 11.5%. Shares rose 4% to 428p.
Instem (LON:INS) was up up 9% at 232p on a solid end of year trading update. The business, which provides software used in drug research, said revenues for the 12 months just gone advanced £2.4mln to a better-than-expected £15.8mln.
Optibiotix Health (LON:OPTI) rose 2% to 83.1p on a new commercial tie-up with KSF Acquisition, which will help the promotion of the AIM company’s weight management product.