Morning Market: Late rally in New York prompts brighter tone

Share prices make a brighter start following a late 123-point recovery in New York overnight.

By nine am the FTSE 100 index was up  23 points at 5,050, with ex-dividends in C&W Worldwide and Johnson Matthey accounting for just half a FTSE point.

The Mid-250 index was 90 points firmer at 9.445.

Mining shares were in the van of the rally with Xstrata at 950p and Kazakhmys £10.87 up over 25 points.

Wolseley advanced 44 points to £15.68 in the wake of a UBS rating upgrade and Intercontinental Hotels was another high-flier at £11.09, up 42p.

RBS recouped 1.02p to 42.45p after drawing up a shortlist for its £4 billion asset sale and Burberry rose 13.5p to 740p as Bank of America raised its target price to 740p from 700p.

News of a small acquisition underpinned Autonomy at £18, up 33p, but BP remained under a cloud after savage criticism from President Obama.

Among the mid-caps Misys stood out at 270p, up 46p, following the sale of its 54.6% stake in Allscripts, the proceeds of which will be distributed to shareholders

A positive trading update boosted IG Group 29p to 421p  and a buy recommendation from UBS contributed to a 19p rise jump to 765.5p in Travis Perkins.

A cautious review of the property sector from Morgan Stanley overshadowed such as Derwent London, 19p lower at £12.81.

Among the smaller caps Afnat resources hardened a penny to 3.18p on signing a Mozambique joint venture with Rio Tinto.

Matra Petroleum put on 0.325p to 1.9p as it expects a well-13 production report in August, but Hampson Industries shed 4p to 48.75p after revealing a 34% profits shortfall.

Brulines edged up 0.5p to 119p, sustained by the dividend increase.