FTSE gets lift from strong commodity prices

The FTSE 100 has opened in positive territory as higher commodity prices and a strong overnight showing from Wall Street and Asia buoyed investors.

At about 9am, London's leading index had edged up 0.4%, with miners Lonmin, Kazakhmys and Anglo American all advancing by nearly 2% on the back of stronger commodity prices.

Crude oil futures settled above $101 a barrel on Wednesday - the first time they had broken the barrier in two weeks.

Man Group is also trading well on the back of a healthy set of results which saw profit before tax rise to $599m in the year to 31 March from $560m the previous year.

Across the Atlantic, commodity prices nudged the Dow Jones 0.3% higher to finish at 12,394.66. All eyes will now be on US GDP data and initial jobless claims due out later today.

London stocks took also took their lead from Asia, with Japan's Nikkei closing up 1.5%, Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index up 0.4% and China's Shanghai Composite edging up 0.5%.

The FTSE's gains are mirrored throughout Europe, with both France's Cac 40 and Germany's Dax advancing 0.3%.