Miners keep FTSE 100 higher
- Published
(Closing) The London market made a slight recovery from last week's 2.5% fall, gaining 0.53% to close at 6,891.43 points.
Mining stocks fared better on hopes of more infrastructure spending in China.
Antofagasta, the copper mining group was the biggest riser on the index, up 3.43% at 739.50p.
Kingfisher, Europe's largest home improvement retailer, rose 1.96% after abandoning the purchase of its French rival Mr Bricolage.
Other retailers also did well. Ocado, the online grocery supermarket rose 8.45% to 359.40p making it the best performer on the wider FTSE 250 index.
Meanwhile, shares in Compass, the world's biggest catering firm, rose 1.1% after it surprised investors by announcing that underlying revenues in the first half of its financial year are expected to rise by about 5.5%.
Arm Holdings gained 2.5% to 1106p following a rebound in semiconductor stocks in late US trade on Friday, after a report that Intel Corp was in talks to buy rival Altera Corp.
On the currency markets, the pound fell 0.59% against the dollar to $1.4789, while against the euro, sterling rose 0.2% to €1.3677.