In London on Wednesday, equities markets were higher in reaction to gains in the Dow Jones Industrial Average in New York. The FTSE 100 added 1 percent to 5,930.1, while the FTSE 250 was up 0.7 percent to 9,911.9.
Miners were up on the session after comments from Deutsche Bank that recent declines were larger than were warranted. BHP Billiton and Antofagasta each gained 3.4 percent, to 921p and 448½p respectively, while Anglo American added 3.6 percent to £22.20.
Pallet maker Brambles Industries added 1 percent to 468p in heaving trading after it gained 3.5 percent in overnight trading in Australia on bids rumors.
Utilities in the UK were higher on mergers and acquisitions activity in Europe. Drax Group was 2.7 percent higher to 836½p, while British Energy added 3 percent to 448½p and Scottish & Southern Energy was 3/5 percent higher to £13.10.
Construction materials company Hanson dropped 1.2 percent to 721p even though ABN Amro repeated its “buy” recommendation and set a target share price of £10.60 and despite recent rumors that Mexican cement company Cemex is preparing to bid. The decline was attributed to profit-taking after recent gains of 10 percent on the deal rumors.