The biggest riser in morning trading (0951) was Vedanta Resources (VED.L) as reports of positive coverage for the India-focused miner from Morgan Stanley emerged.

The mining group saw share price rise by 3.8 per cent to 2,322p in what was a good start for FTSE 100 mining stocks.

Peers BHP Billiton (BHP.L) and Rio Tinto (RIO.L) were also among the top five risers in morning trading adding 2.7 per cent to 2,480p and 2 per cent to 4,452.5p, respectively.

Engineering companies IMI (IMI.L) and Weir Group (WEIR.L) were also among the early risers added 2.3 per cent to 1,034p and 1.9 per cent to 1,736p, respectively.

Retailers were among the biggest fallers (at 0953), with Marks & Spencer (MKS.L) dropping by 2.9 per cent to 341.1p and Next (NXT.L) shedding 1.9 per cent to 2,025p.

Mobile telecommunications company Vodafone Group (VOD.L) and power generation company International Power (IPR.L) dropped 1.1 per cent to 178.95p and 314.9, respectively.

Broadcaster BSkyB (BSY.L) also shed 1 per cent from its share price, falling to 828.5p.