British stocks rally on miners, energy

LONDON: A rally by miners and energy stocks, spurred by firmer commodity prices, helped Britain's top share index extend gains by midday yesterday as it rose above 5,200 points for the first time since September 2008.

By 1108 GMT, the FTSE 100 index was up 68.75 points, or 1.3 percent, at 5,230.62, having hit a fresh high for 2009 of 5,231.18.

"There's still some general optimism that the US third-quarter results season could still prove (to be) at the higher end of expectations, and I think (that has) helped the market off to a reasonable start," said Keith Bowman, analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.