London’s FTSE 100 index was trading 0.2% higher at 6,857 early on.

China’s ‘official’ manufacturing sector purchasing managers’ index (PMI) rose to 50.8 in May, up from 50.4 the month before, according to the National Bureau of Statistics and China Federation of Logistics and Purchasing.

Growth in the manufacturing sector came in at a five-month high and was slightly better than the 50.7 consensus forecast.

David White, a trader at Spreadex, said that the decent performance on Asian markets overnight reflected “renewed strength for equities, buoyed by official PMI figures that showed a greater expansion for China than expected”.

Nevertheless, enthusiasm was tempered slightly by the news that Chinese house prices fell for the first time in nearly two years in May. Average prices for new homes across 100 major Chinese cities decreased by 0.32% over the month to 10,978 yuan (£1,050) per square metre, the China Index Academy said. China’s property sector accounts for 16% of gross domestic product.

Monday is set to be a busy day for economic data with the manufacturing PMI, mortgage approvals and lending figures due out in the UK. German inflation numbers and manufacturing data from the States are also due out later on.

Looking further out, investors are awaiting a pivotal policy decision from the European Central Bank on Thursday – with a number of stimulus measures on the cards – and the all-important change in US non-farm payrolls on Friday.

Mining stocks rise

Mining stocks such a Anglo American, Rio Tinto and Antofagasta were among the best performers this morning on renewed hopes for the Chinese economy. Rio announced this morning that it has completed the $1.02bn sale of its majority interest in the Clermont Mine in Australia, leaving buyer Glencore in charge.

Housebuilder Barratt Developments was on the rise after analysts at Goldman Sachs upgraded the stock from ‘neutral’ to ‘buy’.

Property regeneration specialist St. Modwen Properties rose after saying strong momentum has continued with a growing pipeline of development opportunities. The outlook for the full year is unchanged, though profits in the first half were said to be significantly ahead of last year.

Fund manager Man Group gained after Berenberg raised its rating on the shares from ‘sell’ to ‘hold’, saying that the”enormous” restructuring efforts of the last three years are set to pay off.

Financial stocks were weak early on with insurers Standard Life, Friends Life, RSA and Aviva out of favour. Supermarket chains Tesco, J Sainsbury and WM Morrison also fell.

FTSE 100 – Risers
Anglo American (AAL) 1,486.50p +1.99%
Glencore (GLEN) 328.65p +1.64%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,106.50p +1.62%
Royal Mail (RMG) 520.00p +1.56%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 362.60p +1.51%
Travis Perkins (TPK) 1,702.00p +1.13%
BAE Systems (BA.) 427.90p +1.13%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 3,248.00p +1.12%
easyJet (EZJ) 1,547.00p +1.11%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,888.50p +1.10%

FTSE 100 – Fallers
Standard Life (SL.) 391.00p -2.25%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 341.20p -1.42%
Aviva (AV.) 519.50p -0.86%
Friends Life Group Limited (FLG) 310.60p -0.86%
Rexam (REX) 529.50p -0.81%
Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,038.00p -0.76%
Tesco (TSCO) 301.35p -0.72%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 344.50p -0.61%
Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 200.50p -0.59%
RSA Insurance Group (RSA) 477.40p -0.50%

Source: ShareCast