Market News - London

LONDON (ShareCast) - 1130: Footsie (news) is now nearly 100 points higher. Xstrata (LSE: XTA.L - news) has pipped its fellow miner ENRC as the best-performing stock. Aside from miners, banks Lloyds and RBS (LSE: RBS.L - news) appear in the top 10. Drug group AstraZeneca (LSE: AZN.L - news) , seen as a defensive stock, is among the handful of fallers. FTSE 100 up 97 at 4,502.

1020: Footsie is still going strong led by miners, with ENRC the best-performer despite some cautious comments from the Kazakhstan-based resources company. Among the 10 worst performers is BAE Systems (LSE: BA.L - news) . Defence stocks have been under attack after a gloomy note on the sector from Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS - news) . FTSE 100 up 78 at 4,483.

0905: Footsie has continued its upward march, leaving only two stocks in the red. Miners lead the way, with ENRC the best performer even though it gave a mixed assessment of prospects for metal prices over the remainder of the year. Kazakhmys (LSE: KAZ.L - news) and Antofagasta (LSE: ANTO.L - news) are also going well. One of the fallers is Cobham (LSE: COB.L - news) , which features among the worst performers for the third day in a row after Goldman Sachs lowered its rating on the defence company. FTSE 100 up 69 at 4,474.

0840: Miners are in demand this morning helping Footsie make a strong start to the day. ENRC is the best performer even though it gave a mixed assessment of prospects for metal prices over the remainder of the year. Kazakhmys and Antofagasta are also going well. Royal Bank of Scotland is the only non-miner in the top group. FTSE 100 up 61 at 4,466.