London shares extend gains

Leading shares extended their gains in early afternoon trade, underpinned by the much stronger-than-expected US housing starts data for November, which is traditionally a slow month for the building industry, dealers said.

At 1.44pm, the FTSE 100 index was 31.7 points higher at 5,168.1, and up from the 5,161.4 level seen shortly before the data release.