A Chinese boost has put some life back into the market after the recent freefall caused by the Eurozone crisis.
Despite Ireland's credit rating being downgraded to junk and attention also turning from Italy back to Portugal, investors have focused on some better than expected manufacturing figures from China, which has boosted commodities in particular on hopes of continuing demand from the country. Chinese GDP came in at 9.5% compared to expectations of 9.3%, while industrial production rose 15.1% year-on-year in June, up from 13.3% in May and well above forecasts of around 13.1%.
So ahead of UK unemployment data due shortly, the FTSE 100 is up 13.03 points at 5881.99 after three days of hefty falls. Miners are of course leading the way after the Chinese numbers, with Fresnillo up 87p at £15.27, Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation rising 25p to 792.5p and Kazakhmys climbing 39p to £13.52. Indeed eight of the top ten risers in the leading index are currently mining shares.
