The biggest riser in early trading was mining group Xstrata, which led a resurgence for the sector after taking a panning at the close of trading yesterday evening.

Xstrata saw share price rise by 4.8 per cent to 1,433.5p, with Antofagasta rising 4.3 per cent to 1,466, Kazakhmys 3.6 per cent up to 1,548p, while Fresnillo increasing by 3.2 per cent to 1,441p.

The sector was aided by rising metal prices and reports of upgrades on mining stocks by Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

BT also saw its share price rise after declaring a £496 million profit for the three months to 30 September 2010, increasing by 4 per cent to 165.7p.

The biggest faller was interdealer broker ICAP, which saw share price slide by 4.3 per cent to 472.8p after reports that Credit Suisse had downgraded its outlook.

Royal Bank of Scotland dropped 3.1 per cent to 40.85p, while engineering firm Weir Group shed 2 per cent from its share price to 1,632p.