Mining stocks were performing well despite the gloomy growth figures from the IMF. Vedanta was in the top spot despite seeing production and sales of iron ore from Goa fall in the second quarter as the government's ban on mining activities in the state starts to bite.

Retail giant Marks & Spencer was also on the up after announcing plans to take on an additional 20,000 extra staff for the festive season - 5,000 more than it recruited for last year's Christmas period.

The stock also benefitted from comments from JP Morgan Cazenove, with analyst Gillian Hilditch saying: "We see considerable opportunity for M&S to drive profit forward over the next 3-4 years as it leverages the benefits of significantly improved systems in terms of improved availability and lower markdown. We see scope for up to £332m of additional savings/profits versus 2012, only £150m of which is in management guidance at this stage."

Miner Rio Tinto was also making gains after UBS raised its target price on the stock and reiterated its 'buy' recommendation. The broker said that Rio "offers the greatest leverage [within the UK diversified mining sector] to a recovery in commodity demand in China, which we expect to occur from Q4 12 as large infrastructure projects approved earlier in 2012 take hold."

Asset manager Schroders was given a lift by Morgan Stanley which upgraded the shares to 'equal weight' and lifted its target price from 1,535p to 1,665p.

Banking group Barclays was in the blue after announcing to say that it is to acquire the deposits, mortgages and business assets of ING Direct UK from Dutch finance house ING.

Heading the other way was outsourcing company Capita after Seymour Pierce downgraded its recommendation on the stock to 'hold'.

Meanwhile, temporary power solutions provider Aggreko was also hit by a ratings cut from HSBC to 'neutral'.

Building materials group CRH fell following reports that it has ended its talks with India firm Jaypee Cement. It was announced in August that the two were holding discussions about the possibility of CRH buying a stake in the Indian company, which is the third largest cement producer in the country, with an annual capacity of 28.8m tonnes per annum.

Defence group BAE Systems continued to trade lower as opposition to its proposed merger with European aerospace giant EADS mounts. According to the Financial Times this morning, more than 30% of shareholders in BAE have expressed "significant concerns" with the deal.


FTSE 100 - Risers
Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,100.00p +3.00%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 380.20p +2.90%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,045.00p +2.03%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,837.50p +1.94%
Polymetal International (POLY) 1,170.00p +1.74%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,992.00p +1.74%
Evraz (EVR) 248.70p +1.63%
Xstrata (XTA) 965.50p +1.61%
Glencore International (GLEN) 339.30p +1.42%
Kazakhmys (KAZ) 736.50p +1.38%

FTSE 100 - Fallers
Capita (CPI) 741.00p -3.58%
Aggreko (AGK) 2,250.00p -2.98%
CRH (CRH) 1,152.00p -2.62%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,216.50p -2.16%
Sage Group (SGE) 306.20p -2.11%
BT Group (BT.A) 222.30p -2.03%
SABMiller (SAB) 2,678.00p -2.01%
G4S (GFS) 263.70p -1.93%
Serco Group (SRP) 584.50p -1.85%
Intertek Group (ITRK) 2,702.00p -1.71%

NR

Related share prices
BAE Systems (BA.) share price
Barclays (BARC) share price
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) share price
Rio Tinto (RIO) share price
Aggreko (AGK) share price
Capita (CPI) share price
CRH (CRH) share price
Vedanta Resources (VED) share price