LONDON MARKETS: Miners Rise In London After Upbeat Chinese PMI

By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.K.'s benchmark stock index was on track to break a three-day losing streak on Thursday, with resource firms putting in solid performances after encouraging manufacturing data from China.

The FTSE 100 index gained 0.8% to 6,441.19, after closing at the lowest level since early July on Wednesday.

Mining firms posted some of the biggest gains in the index, helped higher by better-than-expected data from China. Miners tend to rise on growth indications from China as the country is a major user of natural resources.

The "flash" reading of the China manufacturing purchasing managers' index, compiled by HSBC and Markit, showed a rebound to a four-month high of 50.1 from a final reading of 47.7 in July, an 11-month low. A reading above 50 indicates expansion.

The August result was well above the consensus expectation for a 48 reading, as reported by Dow Jones Newswires.

Shares of Antofagasta PLC climbed 2.5%, Rio Tinto PLC (RIO) added 1.5%, and BHP Billiton PLC (BHP) gained 1.7%.

Oil firms were also higher, tracking a gain for oil prices. Shares of Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB) picked up 0.8%, BP PLC rose 0.6%, and BG Group PLC gained 0.5%.

Also among notable gainers, shares of IMI PLC jumped 4.7% after the engineering group reported an 8% rise in first-half profit and raised dividends 8%.

Shares of Wolseley PLC put on 3.4% after UBS lifted the distributor of heating and plumbing products to buy from neutral, ahead of its earnings results in October.

"Our analysis of U.S. peers that have reported on Q2 suggests Wolseley's growth should have accelerated to double-digit growth in Q4 to July," the analysts said.

On a more downbeat note, shares of Premier Oil PLC lost 3.8% after reporting first-half results below expectations.

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