London shares open higher, miners strong on higher commodity prices

London shares open higher, miners strong on higher commodity prices

	Published : Tue, 08 Jan 2008 09:08 By : Agencies Print this Story

LONDON (Thomson Financial) - Leading shares opened higher, with miners strong on higher commodity prices.

At 8.11 am, the FTSE 100 was up 33.7 points at 6,369.4. Yesterday, the index fell 12.8 to close at 6,335.7. The FTSE 250 was 57.7 points weaker at 10,150.8.

Early volume was modest with 46.9 mln shares having changed hands in 11,227 deals.

Stronger copper and gold prices saw miners lead the way in the FTSE 100's rise. Antofagasta was up 16-1/2, or 2.5 pct at 685, while Lonmin was up 119, or 3.8 pct, at 3,264.

Housebuilder Persimmon, weak in recent days, gained 2 to 687, and Taylor Wimpey rose 1.7 to 181.5 after the Halifax said house prices increased by 1.3 pct in December following three successive monthly falls.

Among the midcaps, recruiter Michael Page was an early gainer after it posted a 37.6 pct increase in fourth-quarter gross profit on strong demand for candidates and said that although it is mindful of economic uncertainty it is confident of future prospects.

Fourth-quarter gross profit rose to 128.2 mln stg while full-year gross

profit increased 37.1 pct to 478.1 mln.

The shares rose 16 pence, or 6.5 pct, to 264. They had fallen 60 pct between July and yesterday's close, on worries of a slowdown.

Budget airline easyJet fell 13 to 521-1/2 on disappointment over its December passenger numbers.

brian.gorman@thomson.com

btg/slm

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