Despite strength in the heavyweight mining sector, the FTSE 100 declined 0.4% to 6,796 in early trading.

Oil prices continued to rise this morning after President Barack Obama warned that the Iraq crisis could spill over into other neighbouring regions. Iraq is the second-largest crude producer in the OPEC regions.

Rebels captured border crossings to Syria and Jordan after continued fighting on Sunday.

US Secretary of State John Kerry, who has today travelled to Baghdad, said that the rebels’ “ideology of violence and repression is a threat not only to Iraq but to the entire region”.

Brent crude, already trading at levels not seen since last year, was up a further 0.5% at $115.41 a barrel this morning.

Mining stocks rose strongly in London after manufacturing data from China showed that the sector expanded for the first time in six months. The HSBC manufacturing purchasing managers’ index rose from 49.4 to 50.8 in June, ahead of the consensus forecast of 49.7.

“This month’s improvement is consistent with data suggesting that the authorities’ mini-stimulus is filtering through to the real economy,” said Qu Hongbin, HSBC’s Chief Economist for China.

He said he expected policymakers to “continue their current path of accommodative policy stance until the recovery is sustained”.

Miners rise

Rio Tinto, Anglo American, Antofagasta and BHP Billiton were all making decent gains today after the improved economic data from China, the world’s top metals user.

Shire was among the worst performers as the stock pulled back after a jump on Friday following a rejected £27bn takeover proposal from AbbVie. Shire is to host a investor call later today and is expected launch a charm offensive to convince shareholders that it should continue as an independent company.

Online retailer ASOS fell on the news that it was forced to suspend its website after a fire at a key warehouse in Barnsley over the weekend. The incident, which police are treating as “deliberate”, is said to have “comprised” 20% of ASOS’ stock at the distribution facility.

Housebuilders were also under the weather with Barratt Developments, Persimmon, Taylor Wimpey and Bovis Homes trading lower.

FTSE 100 – Risers
ARM Holdings (ARM) 913.00p +2.70%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,144.00p +2.16%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,923.50p +1.16%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,472.00p +1.06%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 778.00p +0.97%
InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 2,318.00p +0.56%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,271.00p +0.47%
Pearson (PSON) 1,124.00p +0.45%
William Hill (WMH) 342.10p +0.38%
National Grid (NG.) 846.50p +0.36%

FTSE 100 – Fallers
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 350.60p -2.77%
Persimmon (PSN) 1,205.00p -2.03%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 1,363.00p -2.01%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 839.00p -1.87%
Carnival (CCL) 2,259.00p -1.74%
Travis Perkins (TPK) 1,604.00p -1.47%
easyJet (EZJ) 1,431.00p -1.45%
Babcock International Group (BAB) 1,160.00p -1.44%
Shire Plc (SHP) 4,309.00p -1.42%
Next (NXT) 6,270.00p -1.34%

Source: ShareCast