Mining stocks boost FTSE

A surge by mining stocks today left the FTSE 100 Index within touching distance of a return to last month’s six-year high.

The rally followed a positive broker note on Xstrata, while Halifax Bank of Scotland was higher after it said profits were ahead of expectations and that it would return another £500m (€744m) to shareholders.

With retail sales figures on both sides of the Atlantic offering encouragement, the FTSE 100 Index was up 14.6 points at 6207.1 by mid-morning. It reached a peak of 6254 on November 16.

HBOS shares were ahead by 2% or 22p to 1106p, although with trading updates from other banking groups already out of the way the news from HBOS did not have a major bearing on the banking sector.

Northern Rock rose 7p to 1165p, but Barclays was down 5.5p at 714p and Royal Bank of Scotland slipped 2p to 1991p.

Among the miners, Xstrata rose 86p to 2463p after the note from Morgan Stanley highlighted rising commodity prices and the growth available to the firm following a major acquisition. Antofagasta lifted 14.75p to 530p, while Rio Tinto added 60p to 2843p.

British Airways was also on the risers board after Australian airline Qantas ended its resistance to a takeover approach from investment bank Macquarie.

Shares were up 7.5p to 517.5p as analysts applied the price of the Qantas deal to their valuations of BA.

BT shares gathered strength after it said profits growth at its retail arm would be three times higher than City analysts had been expecting at the start of the year. The improved guidance resulted in a rise of 3.5p to 306.75p.

Elsewhere, shares in Trinity Mirror were lower after it announced plans to sell the Racing Post and a clutch of regional titles. Despite producing a solid trading update, shares were 8.75p lower at 489p.