UPDATE: The UK index of 100 leading stocks had jumped 58.87 points to 5921.81 by 2pm, an increase of 1%, led by rising commodity prices as civil unrest in Egypt continues.
Miners led the winners, with copper miner Antofagasta up 4.98% to £14.76 per share. Kazakhmys jumped 3.59% to £15.60. Brent crude was trading at $100.42 a barrel just before 2pm having broken the $100 mark earlier in the day. Traders were also buoyed by much better than expected UK manufacturing data. The purchasing managers' index (PMI) came in at 62 in January, the highest reading since the survey began in 1992. The data will lift hopes of economic expansion in the first quarter of 2011 following the surprise contraction in the last quarter of 2010.
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