Miners and tech lead gains

Adding to the positive sentiment, data published overnight in China revealed stable lending dynamics across the country in May, although the figures also pointed towards a peaking credit cycle, according to economists.

Given recent improved data and officials in Beijing's renewed focus on structural reforms means further monetary policy easing is "off the table for now", according to Julian Evans-Pritchard at Capital Economics.

Chinese banks extended a net 986bn yuan in new loans in May (consensus: 750bn yuan).

"This means that the acceleration in credit growth is likely to start to reverse before long, probably as soon as Q3, which could prove to be a major headwind to growth next year."

Three-month copper futures on the LME finished 2.5% higher at $4,630 per metric tonne, alongside similar-sized gains in aluminium, nickel and zinc futures.

To take note of as well, Bloomberg cited "two persons with knowledge of the matter" according to whom China is planning to increase its stockpiles of base metals via both state and commercial reserves, although no precise timeline was forthcoming.

Gains in ARM Holdings and Laird accounted for the rise in the technology space, as some analysts waxed optimistic over the prospects for Apple's iPhone 8 which might include radical new features and would likely overshadow the launch of the iPhone7.

A positive note from analysts at Barclays boosted Tesco's share price.

"Tesco’s share price has fallen by over 25% from its peak in late March (vs -2% for FTSE 100). Some of the weakness is understandable considering, for example, the limited earnings visibility provided by the company at April’s FY results.

"However, some of the other causes of weakness strike us as exaggerated, such as the threats from ASDA and Amazon Fresh, both of which were highly anticipated and neither of which is necessarily imminent or direct," analysts James Anstead, Nicholas Champ and Julie Zhuang said in a research note sent to clients.

They reiterated their 'overweight' recommendation and 215p target price.

Top performing sectors so far today
Industrial Metals & Mining 1,232.07 +6.02%
Mining 9,095.38 +4.26%
Automobiles & Parts 6,343.17 +1.76%
Technology Hardware & Equipment 1,192.31 +1.58%
Food & Drug Retailers 2,451.52 +1.57%

Bottom performing sectors so far today
Software & Computer Services 1,639.48 -1.26%
Oil & Gas Producers 6,244.13 -0.29%
Real Estate Investment & Services 2,568.58 -0.17%
Forestry & Paper 13,798.11 -0.08%
Alternative Energy 0.00 0.00%