Vedanta Resources shares have come under pressure in recent days after an Indian court ordered the closure of a key copper plant.
The company's Sterlite subsidiary shut the Tuticorin copper smelter on Wednesday following a Madras high court ruling demanding its closure on environmental grounds. The plant is the world's nine largest copper smelter and has been operating for around 12 years, prompting Sterlite to consider an appeal.
But today came reports that India's Supreme Court had stayed the closure order until October 18, prompting a 35p rise in Vedanta's shares to £22.00. The closure ruling comes at a difficult time for the company, since it is trying to get permission to take a controlling stake in Cairn Energy's Indian operations.
Meanwhile commodity companies are pushing the FTSE 100 higher as oil and metal prices rebound following strong Chinese manufacturing data. Anglo American is up 34.5p to £25.60 while BHP Billiton is 29p better at £20.54 and Tullow Oil is up 30p at £13.04.
The leading index is now 62.06 points higher at 5610.68, despite disappointing UK manufacturing figures and ahead of this afternoon's data from the US.
