Stock markets are seeing renewed confidence today following the losses which prompted concerns over the last few days, as metal prices have recovered in Asia, and one of the major mining payers is bidding to buy a rival.
The FTSE 100 index is up 11.2 points or 0.19% to 5,857.4 at 9.45am, led by BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto Group, and Xstrata as the price of copper recovered in Shanghai earlier today by its daily limit of 5% because it appears supply lines could still remain tight. At the same time, Xstrata is attempting to block the purchase of Canadian mining rival Falconbridge by making its own unsolicited $15bn bid. As a result, BHP Billiton, the world's largest mining company, saw it share price jumped 35.5p or 3.3% to £11.17 while Rio Tinto, the third largest mining firm, added 67p or 2.26% to £30.34....
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