The biggest riser in morning trading (at 1018) was commodities trader Glencore (GLEN.L), rising 2.6 per cent to 517.9p.

The recent addition to the FTSE 100 was lifted by reports Deutsche Bank had recommended the stock as a 'buy'.

Oil & gas services company Petrofac (PFC.L) saw its share price rise by 2 per cent to 1,571p, while engineer IMI (IMI.L) increased by 1.8 per cent to 1,039p.

Essar Energy (ESSR.L) rose 1 per cent to 436.8p, while household products company Reckitt Benckiser (RB.L) was up 0.9 per cent to 3,421p.

At the foot of the FTSE 100 was Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY.L) down 1.7 per cent to 47.9p, over the weekend reports had suggested the bank would hold on to its Scottish Widows business.

Cruise line operator Carnival (CCL.L) and International Consolidated Airlines Group (IAG.L) were both down 1.5 per cent to 2,337p and 1.3 per cent to 233.6p, respectively.

Earlier in the day, a report from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) forecast European airline profits are set to tumble £850 million (US$1.4 billion) in 2011.

B&Q owner Kingfisher (KGF.L) was down 0.9 per cent to 277.7p, while Xstrata (XTA.L) fell 0.8 per cent to 1,352p.

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