Markets: Miners send FTSE 100 soaring

17:00 - The FTSE 100 (UKX) sailed across the finishing line on Tuesday firmly in positive territory, after strong gains among the mining sector earlier in the day propelled it ahead.

London's leading share index ended the day 70 points higher at 6056, with luxury fashion retailer Burberry (BRBY) perched atop the winners' table.

Yusuf Heusen, senior sales trader at IG Index, commented: "Shares in the UK were strong from the start and a positive opening on Wall Street has meant the FTSE 100 has stayed close to its earlier highs. Biggest gainer of the day has been Burberry, following strong sales numbers.

"After the gains seen in December, there is definitely scope for a deeper correction than we have been used to of late, but at the moment momentum continues to favour the buyers."

At a glance...

Commodities

Gold: $1,369.78 (down $7.59)

Oil: $91.37 (up $0.35)

Currencies

GBP/EUR: 1.1940 (down 0.0002)

GBP/USD: 1.5999 (up 0.0023)

EUR/USD: 1.3401 (up 0.0015)

16:34 - Emerging markets helped drinks giant SABMiller (SAB) beat forecasts in the three months to end-December.

The FTSE 100-listed firm said organic basis lager volumes were 3% higher than the same period the previous year; and 2% higher than the first nine months of the financial year.

Its European operations were helped by UK and Ukraine growth offsetting Russian and Czech weakness.

16:07 - Defence firm Chemring (CHG) reported "very encouraging" growth in the year to end-October, while its order book as of today is a record high of £902 million.

The FTSE 250-listed firm said revenue in the 12-month period rose 18% to £597.1 million, although pre-tax profit fell from £95.8 million to £89.1 million. Underlying pre-tax profit, however, was up 14% at £116.8 million.

Chemring's group chairman, Peter Hickson, commented: "Our current order book of £902 million, our solid balance sheet and our proven strategy for growth provide clear visibility of the prospects for 2011 and should provide the foundation for further growth in the future."

15:43 - MedaVinci ()'s news that small scale mining operations can be sustained at its Deli Jovan gold project, Serbia, was given the thumbs up by investors.

Shares in the AIM-listed company shot up over 12% after advisors SRK Consulting hailed it "likely" that the company would be able to establish small scale mining operations at the project using handheld pneumatic drilling equipment.

For more, read: Serbian hopes give Medavici a lift.

15:19 - US markets were striving to make headway on their first trading day of a shortened trading week, but disappointing results from Citigroup (C) and concerns over Apple (AAPL)'s CEO, Steve Jobs, hit sentiment.

Third-quarter revenue and profit fell at Citigroup, sending shares south, while another enforced break by Jobs saw Apple's shares - as well as the wider Nasdaq index - take a hit.

The Nasdaq dipped a solitary point to 2755, while the Dow Jones rose 52 points to 11839 and the S&P 500 inched up one point to 1294.

14:58 - China attracted a record level of foreign investment in 2010, after seeing a fall in the previous year.

In total, the country attracted $106 billion of foreign direct investments – this showed a 17.4% increase in the level invested in the country in 2009.

Back in 2009, due to the global recession, investment into China fell by 2.3%.

More than a fifth of the money flowing into China last year went into the property sector.

14:35 - Nostra Terra Oil and Gas (NTOG) announced the spudding of the Vintage Hills prospect in Texas, in which it recently acquired a 1.2% interest.

The junior oil and gas company said the well will be drilled to a depth of around 10,400 feet and should take around 35 days to complete.

14:12 - Despite a lack of consensus from European finance ministers in Brussels, the euro was up against the pound and dollar on Tuesday.

At midday the euro was up 0.82% against the dollar to take it over the $1.34 mark. EUR/GBP was up less convincingly as sterling demonstrated strength in the wake of high CPI figures, but the single currency managed to edge up 0.15% to hit 0.8380.

Finance ministers remained split on extending the remit of the European Financial Stability Fund in yesterday’s meeting and it looked as if real decisions would be left to the heads of government who are due to meet towards the end of March.

For more, read: Euro prospers despite split over bail-out fund.

13:50 - Nickel shot to an eight-month high on Tuesday after a report from China showed demand on the rise.

The metal rose over 2%, to $26,425 a tonne on the London Metal Exchange - beating the previous high set on 4 May.

Nickel consumption in China climbed 20% from a year earlier to 45,000 tonnes in November, the latest report from the International Nickel Study Group showed.

Meanwhile, global usage of nickel rose 12% from the previous year.

13:25 - Oil and gas services group Petrofac (PFC) has been awarded a $1.2 billion project contract in Algeria.

The contract - which includes engineering, procurement and construction - was awarded by In Salah Gas, as association between Sontrach, LSE:BP.:BP and Statoil and covers the development of the southern fields in the In Salah development.

The fields to be developed are Garet el Befinat, Hassi Moumene, In Salah and Gour Mohmoud, the FTSE 100-listed giant said.

The 50-month project, to be completed in phases, will support the maintenance of plateau gas production rates of nine billion cubic metres per year from 2013 onwards, it added.

12:55 - The FTSE 100 (UKX) maintained its progress on Tuesday, thanks to a strong showing from commodity-linked shares.

With Burberry (BRBY) also lifting sentiment, London's top share index stood 64 points to the good at 6050.

Heading the winners' board was Burberry following a strong third quarter, while Petrofac (PFC) and and Kazakhmys (KAZ) also prospered.

On the other side of the coin, Essar Energy (ESSR) was propping up the rest of the index, down over 4%.

12:37 - The Consumer Price Index measure of inflation jumped to 3.7% in December, up from 3.3% the month before, according to the Office for National Statistics.

The largest upward pressures to the change in annual inflation came from higher prices for air transport, fuels and lubricants, gas and food.

For the full story, read: Inflation hits eight-month high of 3.7%.

12:15 - Miner Rio Tinto (RIO) set a new quarterly and annual production record for iron ore, as it sought to run its operations at full capacity last year.

The FTSE 100 giant's global iron ore operations hit 65 million tonnes in the fourth quarter and a high of 239 million tonnes for the year.

During the quarter, Rio gave the go-ahead to a further $5.5 billion in growth projects, including the expansion of the Pilbara iron ore operations to 283 million tonnes a year.

However, its mined and refined copper activities fared less well, slipping 9% and 6% respectively and down 16% and 5% on the year.

11:51 - African Barrick Gold (ABG) failed to hit its full-year production target, despite a rise in fourth-quarter output.

The FTSE 100-listed mining giant produced 179,730 ounces of gold in the final three months of the year, up 9% on the previous quarter but down 16% year-on-year.

Overall production for 2010 came in at 700,934 ounces, after the group slashed its output target for the second time in October to 716,000 ounce following a fuel theft at its Buzwagi mine in Tanzania.

11:27 - The Financial Services Authority has fined Barclays (BARC) £7.7 million for investment advice failures around the sale of two Aviva (AV.) funds.

Barclays sold Aviva's Global Balanced Income Fund and Global Cautious Income Fund to 12,331 people between July 2006 and November 2008, creating investments worth around £692 million, but there were "serious failings" in the way they were sold, the watchdog found.

For the full story, read: Barclays fined £7.7 million for mis-selling.

11:01 - Carphone Warehouse (CPW) today said it was on target to reach expectations for full-year earnings thanks to strong performance from its US tie-up Best Buy.

The company's European operations showed revenue up 0.7% over the third quarter, with UK like-for-like revenue up 2.3%.

Read: Carphone Warehouse on target for full year, for the full story.

10:33 - Regal Petroleum (RPT) was in demand on Tuesday, with a second possible suitor entering the bidding war for the oil and gas explorer.

Following on from its announcement in November that it had received a cash offer of 24p per share from Energees Management, Regal said it had since entered into discussions with financing group Heamoor and private oil explorer Geo-Alliance.

For the full story, read: Regal suspends shares as bidding war hots up.

10:05 - Credit checker Experian (EXPN) reported a return to growth in all its regions in the third quarter, thanks to a gradual recovery in its core markets.

The FTSE 100 firm said total revenues in the three months to end-December were up 12%, with its Latin American market particularly buoyant.

Chief executive officer Don Robert commented: "For the year as a whole our expectations are unchanged. We continue to expect similar rates of organic revenue growth to the first half, and we are targeting modest improvement in our EBIT margin."

09:37 - Homebuilder Taylor Wimpey (TW.) enjoyed a much stronger year in 2010 compared to the year before and said it was in a strong position to deliver further margin improvement in 2011.

For the full year to 31 December, it said it expected operating margin for UK housing to be approximately 7%, up from 0.8% the year before.

Despite ongoing economic uncertainty, shown by muted house price surveys coming from Halifax and Nationwide for the last quarter of 2010, the firm said second half trading was in line with expectations. 

For more, read: Taylor Wimpey enjoys strong 2010.

09:17 - Part-nationalised Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) has agreed another non-core asset disposal, this time of its minority stake in the Priory Group.

The FTSE 100 banking giant reached agreement with Advent International for an enterprise value of up to £925 million.

RBS said it expects to receive gross equity proceeds of up to £133 million, after the settlement of outstanding debt.

For more on RBS and how it's progressing with its five-year plan, watch our recent iBall TV episode.

09:00 - The FTSE 100 (UKX) started the day strong on Tuesday, with banks and mining shares providing the catalyst.

London's benchmark share index jumped 53 points to 6039, as Burberry (BRBY) moved into top spot on the winners' board.

Indeed, Burberry is where we begin our companies round-up.

The designer retailer was buoyant following a positive retail update for the three months to 31 December.

It reported total revenue up 27% and retail sales up 36% amid strong consumer demand in both retail and wholesale markets.

For the full story, read: Third quarter boosts Burberry shares.

At a glance...

Asian markets

Nikkei 225: 10519 (up 16)

Hang Seng: 24154 (down three)

Shanghai Composite: 2836 (up three)

Commodities

Gold: $1,377.37

Oil: $91.02

Currencies

GBP/EUR: 1.1942

GBP/USD: 1.5976

EUR/USD: 1.3386

08:00 - The FTSE 100 (UKX) opens at 5985.