FTSE nears 5,000 as miners soar

London’s blue chip index climbed to an 11-month high this morning, buoyed by surging miners.

The FTSE 100 advanced more than 35 points (0.73%) to 4,969.08 in early trading, boosted by a rise in gold prices, which have passed the $1,000 an ounce barrier.

Miners Rio Tinto and Vedanta Resources gained 3.75% to £25.57 and 3.58% to £18.53 respectively, while Kazakhmys advanced 3.55% to £10.49.

InterContinental Hotels, which owns the Crowne Plaza and Holiday Inn chains, gained the most in early trading after Credit Suisse raised its recommendation to 'outperform'. The stock rose 5.99% to 814p,

However, Unilever fell 0.91% to £16.42 while Aviva tumbled 0.85% to 408.7p.

Wall Street re-opens today after Monday's Labor Day shutdown.

All eyes will be on Kraft, which is likely to return with an improved offer for Cadbury after a £10.2m offer was rejected yesterday. Cadbury stock surged as a result of the approach.

Japanese stocks rose, giving the Nikkei 225 Stock Average its first back-to-back gain in three weeks, on the back of speculation earnings will recover quicker than expected.

The Nikkei 225 advanced 0.7% to close at 10,393.23.