Leading shares have shaken off poor UK GDP figures, following Europe higher after better than expected German business confidence numbers.
But mining and commodity shares have missed out on the gains. Coal exports from Australia have been disrupted by rain and flooding following cyclone Oswald. Among the main producers in the region are Rio Tinto, down 47p at £35.28, and BHP Billiton, 27.5p lower at £21.11.
Anglo American has lost 16.5p to £18.78 after it reported quarterly production numbers which had been hit by strikes in South Africa. Iron ore production fell 19% while platinum dropped 29%.
Polymetal was an exception, up 24p to £11.14. There was renewed talk the Russian precious metals miner could link up with Polyus Gold, up 5p to 223.5p. UBS upgraded Polymetal from neutral to buy and raised its price target from £11.70 to £13.00, saying:
We have raised our 12-month price target by 11% reflecting the recent resource base expansion by Polymetal and latest results. As a result we raised 2012 -2014 earnings per share forecast by 5% to 30%. We think that now is the right moment to use weakness in the stock price as potential merger with Polyus Gold may be a strong driver.
Overall though, leading shares have continued their rally - albeit fairly unconvincingly - with the FTSE 100 up 9.40 points at 6274.31.
