London’s markets saw gains Thursday as the FTSE 100 added 0.68 percent to 6,313.3 and the FTSE 250 gained 0.27 percent to 11,330.8 after the Bank of England‘s Monetary Policy Committee held interest rates steady as well.
Companies related to commodities filled all five top spots on the 100 and two of the top five places on the 250, including the best performance there.
Rio Tinto (LSE: RIO) had the best day on the 100 with a gain of 5.42 percent to £37.16.
Elsewhere in the mining sector Lonmin (LSE: LMI) was 4.71 percent higher to £33.79, while BHP Billiton (LSE: BLT; NYSE: BHP; ASX: BHP) gained 3.95 percent to £14.73 and Vedanta Resources (LSE: VED) was up 3.41 percent to £19.10.
In the oil sector, BG Group (LSE: BG; NYSE: BG) added 4.83 percent to 824.5p.
Over on the 250, gold miner Randgold (LSE: RRS; NAS: GOLD) was 6.21 percent higher to £12.99 for the best performance on the 250.
Tullow Oil (LSE: TLW; OTC: TUWLY) was 4.26 percent higher to 562.5p.
The worst performance on the day on the 100 came from electricity generator Drax Group (LSE: DRX), which fell 5.63 percent to 637.5p.
Banks were also lower, with Standard Chartered (LSE: STAN; SEHK: 2888) down 2.11 percent to £14.85 and Northern Rock (LSE: NRK) dropping 3.03 percent to 672p.
Elsewhere among financial services groups, insurer Legal & General Group (LSE: LGEN) fell 2.34 percent to 138p.
The worst performer on the 250 was reinsurer Benfield Group (LSE: BFD), which was 5.48 percent lower to 289p.