The miners were the best performers of the day, with Evraz, Polymetal, Rio Tinto, Anglo American, BHP Billiton and Glencore making decent gains. Chinese GDP data came in below expectations, which sent rumours flying around that the 'weak' (by Chinese standards) growth may prompt the central bank to boost the economy by launching new stimulus measures.

Xstrata and Glencore were on the rise even though they admitted this morning that their planned tie-up may take a little longer than expected, as they continue discussions with regulatory authorities which require anti-trust filings to be submitted.

Sage was a big faller after Jefferies downgraded its rating for the business software group from buy to hold, saying it is turning a 'bit more cautious' despite continuing to favour the positioning and management of the company.

Sage's core business remains exceptionally stable, the broker acknowledges, underpinned by two-thirds of its revenue derived from recurring subscription and support contracts. "These defensive attributes are highly attractive to investors at times of higher economic uncertainty as any volatility in licence sales tends to exert a relatively muted impact on group revenue."


FTSE 100 - Risers
Evraz (EVR) 366.80p +2.63%
Polymetal International (POLY) 975.00p +1.62%
Xstrata (XTA) 1,119.50p +1.27%
Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 294.30p +1.00%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,921.50p +0.79%
Croda International (CRDA) 2,158.00p +0.65%
Glencore International (GLEN) 407.55p +0.65%
Anglo American (AAL) 2,285.50p +0.59%
Capita (CPI) 738.00p +0.54%
Shire Plc (SHP) 1,962.00p +0.51%

FTSE 100 - Fallers
Man Group (EMG) 111.90p -3.03%
Sage Group (SGE) 287.60p -2.67%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 25.33p -2.43%
WPP (WPP) 841.50p -2.09%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 465.40p -2.08%
Admiral Group (ADM) 1,192.00p -2.05%
Reed Elsevier (REL) 528.00p -1.95%
Barclays (BARC) 219.15p -1.92%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 31.36p -1.72%
Tate & Lyle (TATE) 691.50p -1.71%

NR

Related share prices
BHP Billiton (BLT) share price
Sage Group (SGE) share price
Xstrata (XTA) share price
Glencore Xstrata (GLEN) share price
Polymetal International (POLY) share price
Evraz (EVR) share price