(Sharecast News) - London stocks rose in early trade on Friday, taking their cue from an upbeat session on Wall Street, as investors eyed a speech by new Federal Reserve chair Kevin Warsh at the Jackson Hole Economic Policy Symposium in Wyoming.
At 0840 BST, the FTSE 100 was up 0.3% at 10,826.52.
Investors will be looking for any hints about monetary policy going forward from Warsh, who has so far been tight-lipped when it comes to his views on the US economy.
Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, said: "There is much anticipation over his comments on the current Fed thinking, although it has already been made quite clear that the new Chair is happy to eschew the forward guidance to which investors had become accustomed.
"While there may be a passing reference to the Fed's determination to return the inflation rate to the 2% target, it may also provide less of a clue than is being called for. Indeed, he could disappoint if he simply sticks to the script, with the theme of the symposium being 'Financial Innovation: Implications for Payments and Policy'."
Unsurprisingly, there was a dearth of UK corporate news as we head into the Bank Holiday weekend.
Miners were among the top performers on the FTSE 100, with precious metals miner Fresnillo and Chilean copper miner Antofagasta both up.
Private equity and infrastructure investment firm 3i Group was among the biggest risers, along with utilities SSE, Centrica and Severn Trent.
The biggest gainer on the top-flight index was Melrose Industries, however, after it said earlier in the week that the Orange County District Attorney had closed its criminal investigation into an incident at the GKN Aerospace Garden Grove facility with no charges.
Elsewhere, Goodwin surged as it said that talks regarding the sale of its Mechanical Engineering division are progressing well, and there have been discussions with a "number of potentially interested parties".
After announcing a strategic review of the business unit three weeks ago, the board said it wants to complete a disposal within the next 12 months, and expects to return a "substantial part" of any cash proceeds to shareholders.
The update came as the engineering firm reported a doubling of operating profits for the financial year to 30 April.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 10,826.52 0.31%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 24,973.57 0.30%
techMARK (TASX) 6,207.17 -0.13%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Melrose Industries (MRO) 520.80p 2.12%
Fresnillo (FRES) 3,220.00p 2.09%
SSE (SSE) 2,421.00p 1.76%
3i Group (III) 2,870.00p 1.62%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 4,091.00p 1.39%
Centrica (CNA) 156.05p 1.33%
Investec (INVP) 651.50p 1.16%
Diageo (DGE) 1,722.50p 1.08%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 1,520.60p 1.08%
Severn Trent (SVT) 3,128.00p 1.03%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 86.00p -2.21%
BAE Systems (BA.) 2,064.00p -1.34%
Barratt Redrow (BTRW) 316.30p -1.06%
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 161.65p -0.98%
Babcock International Group (BAB) 1,068.50p -0.97%
Relx plc (REL) 2,639.00p -0.90%
The Sage Group (SGE) 1,095.00p -0.82%
Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,064.00p -0.75%
Diploma (DPLM) 7,230.00p -0.55%
Persimmon (PSN) 1,178.50p -0.47%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Hays (HAS) 76.65p 5.06%
Michael Page (PAGE) 223.60p 3.22%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 694.50p 2.59%
Wickes Group (WIX) 199.00p 2.47%
Endeavour Mining (EDV) 4,849.00p 2.43%
Barr (A.G.) (BAG) 597.00p 2.33%
Ithaca Energy (ITH) 278.40p 2.32%
Raspberry PI Holdings (RPI) 597.00p 2.14%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 2,268.00p 1.98%
Mondi (MNDI) 894.40p 1.84%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Dr. Martens (DOCS) 75.20p -2.84%
Rank Group (RNK) 102.80p -2.47%
RHI Magnesita N.V. (DI) (RHIM) 2,715.00p -2.34%
PPHE Hotel Group Ltd (PPH) 1,500.00p -1.70%
Edinburgh Worldwide Inv Trust (EWI) 261.00p -1.69%
Mitchells & Butlers (MAB) 279.50p -1.58%
Capital Gearing Trust (CGT) 520.00p -1.33%
B&M European Value Retail (BME) 241.00p -1.23%
Breedon Group (BREE) 353.40p -1.23%
Hansa Investment Company Limited (DI) (HAN) 332.00p -1.19%
16.89 (0.16%)
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