Update: QE and mining stocks fuel FTSE rise

The FTSE 100 rose today after the Bank of England (BoE) voted to inject a further £75bn into the economy through quantitative easing (QE). Interest rates will remain the same, at 0.5%.

The index stood at 5,218, a rise of 115 points or 2.3%, just after midday today.

In the FX markets, the pound fell by a cent and a half against the dollar (0.9%) immediately after the announcement - the lowest since July 2010.

Before the BoE's midday release, it was miners that fuelled the FTSE's early rise.

ENRC was up 9%, with Roi Tinto up 5.8% and Vedanta 6.6%, as metal prices rose - most notably copper, up 4.1% to $3.23 a pound.

Other European markets performed strongly, after Luxembourg said it had lined up an invester to take a majority share in Dexia BIL, the Luxembourg arm of the troubled Belgian bank. The Dax and the Cac both climbed by around 2.5%.

In the overnight markets, the S&P 500 was up 1.7% at 1,144, with the Japanese Nikkei 225 up 1.5% at 8,509.