Kazakhmys was the biggest riser in early trading as share price rose by 4.4 per cent to 1,170p after reporting a strong rise in earnings for the first six months of the year.

The mining group saw earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation rise by 87 per cent to approximately £837 million ($1.3 billion).

Oleg Novachuk, chief executive of Kazakhmys, said, 'This has been a solid six months, with good production and cost control in our mining business, assisted by a more positive pricing environment.

'The power business is growing ahead of expectations, which should lead to an acceleration of the investment programme.'

He added, 'Our growth projects are progressing on track and we should be in a position to give significant updates by the time of our full year results.

'The market for our products has been firm and we remain positive on the outlook for copper.'

Kazkhmys was followed by mining groups Eurasian Natural Resources up 2.7 per cent to 849p, and Rio Tinto, which saw share price increase by 2.6 per cent to 3,185p.

Royal Bank of Scotland Group saw share price increase by 2.66 per cent to 44.09p as the financials rose in early trading.

The biggest faller was commercial property real estate investment trust (REIT) Segro as share price slid by 3.2 per cent to 266.2p.

The REIT reported that net asset value (NAV) per share remained flat in the first six months of the year, when compared with the difficult trading period during the first six months of 2009.

NAV rose by just 1.1 per cent to 358p, compared with 354p during the prior-year period.

Ian Coull, chief executive of Segro, said, 'Progress has been encouraging during the half and we have made good advances in lettings.'

He added, 'We have recently seen an encouraging increase in the levels of enquiries and growing interest in pre-let developments which we will seek to capitalise on in the second half.

'The macro-economic environment remains uncertain but Segro is well placed and we will continue to focus on driving operational performance.'

Medical device manufacturer Smith & Nephew saw share price fall by 1 per cent  to 539.5p. Retail giant Morrison (WM) Supermarkets saw share price slip by 0.9 per cent to 287.2p, while outsourcing group Serco share price also dropped by 0.9 per centto 581.5p.