BHP Billiton saw a late surge in its shares on talk that the Chinese were considering a plan to take a stake in the mining group.
Earlier this year, China's Chinalco and US partner Alco bought a 9% stake in Rio Tinto, which is under siege from BHP. The new suggestion - reported in the Australian newspaper - was that another Chinese group, perhaps Baosteel, might buy a similar sized shareholding in BHP as part of a second front to scupper the proposed deal.
BHP closed 77p higher at £17.62, a 4.6% gain. Rival Xstrata added 87p to £39.54, while Rio Tinto rose 61p to £59.01.
The strength in the miners managed to pull back some of the market's earlier losses and, by the close, the FTSE 100 was down just 24.6 points at 5990.2.
After the warning letter from the US Food and Drink Administration about Avandia, GlaxoSmithKline closed 35p lower at £11.05.
