Vedanta Resources is leading the miners and the market higher following the release of upbeat production numbers.
The whole sector continues to be lifted by higher metal prices thanks to the weak dollar and better than expected figures from aluminium group Alcoa last night. It actually reported a profit in the third quarter, and said key markets were stabilising. Meanwhile gold continues to hit new peaks.
As for Vedanta it reported a near 16% rise in second quarter zinc production and a gain of 27% for iron ore.
Elsewhere Kazakhmys has climbed 46p to £11.44 and Antofagasta has added 32.5p to 830p.
So overall the market has continued where it left off on Tuesday, ignoring yesterday's decline as just a blip. The FTSE 100 is now 51.98 points higher at 5160.88. Later today of course comes the latest Bank of England interest rate and quantative easing news, when there is expected to be pretty much no news, with rates unchanged. Ian Williams at Altium Securities said:
The FTSE 100 took a breather yesterday but continued progress from the UK mid and small caps underlined how investor risk appetite remains robust. The disappointing numbers from Sainsbury may have knocked sentiment a touch but it was a marginal impact. Ladbroke is looking to raise £275m and a mooted £15bn rights issue from Lloyds would be a true test of investor enthusiasm. Today's monetary policy committee announcement is likely to be a damp squib: any changes to QE will be saved for November and the publication of the quarterly Inflation Report.
