Morning trading brings FTSE 100 gain

Strong performances from mining companies and banks helped stocks on the FTSE 100 to gain this morning.

At 11:56 GMT, the index was up 0.8 per cent in London, taking it to 5,286.59 points, Reuters reports.

There were increases of up to four per cent in the share prices of Kazakhmys, BHP Billiton. Fresnillo, Vedanta Resources, Lonmin, Xstrata and Antofagasta, as well as increases across most of the financial sector.

However, stocks in HSBC and Lloyds Banking Group fell by 0.8 per cent and 0.3 per cent respectively.

The mining rises were prompted by positive news regarding industrial production from China, which also caused shares in oil firms such as BP, Cairn Energy, Royal Dutch Shell and Tullow Oil to be higher at the midway point of Friday trading.

As a result, the FTSE has extended the gains it recorded yesterday, when it was up 37.15 points at midday.

This jump was caused by banks, which strengthened on the news that the interest rate had been held at 0.5 per cent by the Bank of England.ADNFCR-2318-ID-19509307-ADNFCR