Impressive figures from China’s manufacturers helped lift some of the most heavily-weighted stocks on London’s leading shares index.
The FTSE 100 Index closed 39 points higher at 5791 as miners were cheered by recovery hopes for the world’s second biggest economy.
Traders focused on figures confirming the first rise in Chinese manufacturing output for more than a year as US markets closed for the Thanksgiving holiday.
The pound fell against the US dollar and euro to 1.59 and 1.23 respectively after the CBI released another downbeat UK manufacturing survey.
The biggest FTSE 100 risers were SAB Miller up 168p at 2801p, Evraz ahead 11p at 237.3p, Johnson Matthey up 99p at 2289p and Melrose ahead 5.5p at 215p.
The biggest FTSE 100 fallers were Polymetal International down 12p at 1108p, Pearson off 7p at 1175p, Hargreaves Lansdown down 4.5p at 766p and Vodafone off 0.9p at 158.3p.
