The FTSE 100 opened up over one per cent on Thursday.

At 08:48 BST the index stood at 5,159.83 – a gain of 50.93 points or 1.00 per cent.

Leading the gains was Vedanta Resources rose 5.42 per cent after production reports showed the miner recorded higher iron ore and zinc output.

Lonmin rose 3.77 per cent, Antofagasta climbed 3.76 per cent, Kazakhmys gained 3.64 per cent and Anglo American was up 3.50 per cent on the news.

The biggest drop was recorded by Shire – down 0.86 per cent – after UBS cut its rating on the pharmaceutical group yesterday to neutral from buy.

Thomas Cook was down 0.26 per cent, Reed Elsevier fell 0.21 per cent and Smith & Nephew dropped 0.19 per cent as losses were limited in early trading.

Last night in the US, trading was muted, with the Dow down 0.06 per cent and the S&P 500 up 0.32 per cent.

Overnight in Asia, the Nikkei gained 0.34 per cent and the Hang Seng rose 1.08 per cent.

In Europe the morning, the Dax gained 1.29 per cent and the Cac40 rose 1.40 per cent.

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