Chip designer ARM Holdings continued to make gains after its impressive third-quarter results yesterday. It was announced yesterday morning that the company beat forecasts in the third quarter and gave a confident outlook for the rest of the year.

The semiconductor intellectual property group said that total revenue in the three months to September 30th rose 20% in sterling terms from £120.2m to £144.6m, ahead of the consensus estimate of £140m.

Shares in household products and personal care behemoth Reckitt Benckiser also jumped after it produced solid results for the third quarter, with like-for-like net revenue growth of four per cent at constant exchange rates driven by strong growth in emerging markets. It also said it will meet growth expectations.

Miners are doing a good job of propping up the FTSE, boosted by the upbeat economic data out from China overnight. Kazakhmys was the biggest of the sector's risers, with ENRC, Antofagasta, Evraz and Vedanta all hot on its heels.

Michael Hewson, Senior Markets Analyst at CMC Markets, was quoted by Reuters as saying: "All you're doing is getting a bit of an adjustment after yesterday's sharp move lower. China data has been a little bit supportive. I don't think China is going to get the global economy out of the rut that it's in, but what it might do is prompt a little bit of caution about selling."

Meanwhile, banks were taking a hit after Sir Mervyn King, the outgoing governor of the Bank of England, warned of further banking losses, saying they were "inevitable". In a speech at the South Wales Chamber of Commerce in Cardiff on Tuesday, he said: "In the 1930s, faced with problems of sovereign and other debt similar to those of today, the pretence that debts could be repaid was maintained for far too long. We must not repeat that mistake."

Information services provider Experian was pulling back following yesterday's strong rise after it said it was increasing its stake in Brazilian credit bureau Serasa from 70% to 99.6% for $1.5bn in cash. Jefferies labelled the stock as a "core support services holding" but downgraded its rating on the shares from 'buy' to 'hold' on valuation grounds.

Cigarette and tobacco giant British American Tobacco (BATS) was under pressure after organic revenue growth and volumes were worse than expected in the third quarter. On a reported basis, sales fell 1% on the back of adverse exchange rate movements.

Holiday Inn and Crown Plaza owner InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) was subdued after seeing growth in US revenue per available room (RevPAR) moderate in the third quarter as a result of a seasonal impacts.


FTSE 100 - Risers
ARM Holdings (ARM) 682.50p +6.64%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 3,810.00p +4.87%
Kazakhmys (KAZ) 744.50p +3.19%
BAE Systems (BA.) 313.90p +2.68%
Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) 340.70p +2.40%
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (CDI) (IAG) 158.30p +2.26%
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 1,569.00p +2.02%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,287.00p +1.74%
Evraz (EVR) 246.90p +1.60%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,140.00p +1.51%

FTSE 100 - Fallers
Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,037.00p -1.89%
Amec (AMEC) 1,060.00p -1.85%
Old Mutual (OML) 169.80p -1.74%
Resolution Ltd. (RSL) 212.60p -1.71%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,680.00p -1.47%
Barclays (BARC) 229.70p -1.27%
Experian (EXPN) 1,075.00p -1.10%
Vodafone Group (VOD) 173.10p -1.09%
Babcock International Group (BAB) 941.50p -1.00%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 39.90p -0.97%


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Related share prices
Barclays (BARC) share price
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) share price
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) share price
ARM Holdings (ARM) share price
Antofagasta (ANTO) share price
Vedanta Resources (VED) share price
Kazakhmys (KAZ) share price
Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) share price
Evraz (EVR) share price