Impressive figures from China’s manufacturers helped lift some of the most heavily-weighted stocks on London’s leading shares index today.
The FTSE 100 Index closed 39 points higher at 5,791 as miners were cheered by recovery hopes for the world’s second biggest economy.
Evraz shares leapt 5%, up 11p to 237.3p, while Xstrata made a 2% gain up 17p to £10.14.
Brewing giant SAB Miller was the top blue-chip riser after a 12% hike in half-year profits saw shares lift 6%, or 168p to £28.01.
Insurance giant RSA Group buoyed shares after naming Martin Scicluna as its new chairman, replacing John Napier who will step down at the end of December after 10 years.
RSA shares lifted 2% or 2.6p to 113.5p.
Elsewhere, baby products chain Mothercare jumped 4% as its interim figures confirmed turnaround efforts were paying off, with underlying losses narrowing to £600,000 from £4.4million a year earlier.
Shares in the retailer rose 11p to 303p.
The biggest FTSE 100 risers included Johnson Matthey up 99p at £22.89 and Melrose ahead 5.5p at 215p.
Among the biggest FTSE 100 fallers were Polymetal International down 12p at £11.08, Pearson off 7p at £11.75, Hargreaves Lansdown down 4.5p at 766p and Vodafone off 0.9p at 158.3p.
Carrie Keenan, of investment manager and financial planning specialist Brewin Dolphin in Aberdeen, noted that Faroe Petroleum added 1.53% at 140.5p and FirstGroup gained 1.47% to finish the day at 180.25p.
Fallers included Bridge Energy which shed 17.53% at 105p and Xcite Energy which slid 3.01% to 97.25p.