The biggest riser in early trading (0956) was microchip manufacturer Arm Holdings (ARM.L), which saw share price rise by 4.2 per cent to 599.5p.

The microchip manufacturer saw share price increase as US chip giant Intel reported non-GAAP net income of $3.3 billion for the first quarter of the year.

Paul Otellini, president and chief executive of Intel, said, 'The first-quarter revenue was an all-time record for Intel fueled by double digit annual revenue growth in every major product segment and across all geographies.

'These outstanding results, combined with our guidance for the second quarter, position us to achieve greater than 20 per cent annual revenue growth.'

Miners Xstrata (XTA.L) and Antofagasta (ANTO.L) saw share prices rise by 3.5 per cent to 1,510p and 3.1 per cent to 1,358p.

B&Q owner Kingfisher (KGF.L) saw its share price increase by 3.2 per cent 275.7p, and oil company Tullow Oil (TLW.L) rose by 3.1 per cent to1,422p.

Life insurance consolidator Resolution (RSL.L) was the biggest faller, dropping by 2.2 per cent to 286p. The company had earlier been downgraded to 'neutral' status and had its target price reduced by analysts at UBS.

Publisher Reed Elsevier (REL.L) fell 1.7 per cent to 528.5p, despite having its 'buy' status reiterated by Panmure Gordon.

BAE Systems (BA.L) dropped 0.8 per cent to 323.8, while L&G (LGEN.L) and Rolls-Royce (RR.L) both fell 0.2 per cent to 116.5p and 627p, respectively.