At mid-day Thursday, the FTSE 100 in London was 0.8% higher at 6,610, gaining of 50.5 points.

Advancers

Bradford & Bingley was the leading advancer in the FTSE. The mortgage bank gained 5.2% after Credit Suisse upgraded the stock to neutral and added that the bank would return 500 million pounds of excess capital to shareholders.

The mining sector surged in light of positive US economic data which showed a growing demand for metals and manufactured goods. Copper large-cap Rio Tinto advanced 1.7%, supported by the settlement of a decade-long tax dispute in Australia. BHP Billiton added 1.3%.

Centrica, the gas distributing company, a bid target of Russian Gazprom, gained a further 3.8% after Citigroup raised its rating on the shares to buy from hold and hiked its price target on the stock.

Man Group, the largest publically traded hedge fund in the world, gained 1.4% after news that it anticipated assets under management in Asia to grow by 10% to 15% over the next year or 18 months.

Shares in Punch Taverns rose 1.6% after it said it would redeem 460 million pounds worth of outstanding bonds and pay down debt by issuing up to 825 million pounds worth of floating rate notes.

Decliners

CardioMag Imaging was the only decliner at mid-day, plunging 90%. It lost more than 75% of its value this morning after the non-invasive heart disease testing group warned that full year operating losses will top $5 million.


8:30AM Asian markets advance Thursday, led higher by South Korea, China dips.

Asian markets finished higher on Thursday. In South Korea, strong program buying connected with expiry of futures and options in late session helped shares to end at a record high, with securities, shipbuilders and information-technology stocks in the forefront of advance. Kospi Index rallied 2.7% to 1,769. Gainers included Woori Investment & Securities which advanced 7% and shipbuilders Hyundai Heavy Industries up 5.9% and Samsung Heavy Industries rising 6.5%, supported by higher vessel prices.

In Tokyo, the Nikkei 225 Average ended the session 0.6% higher at 17,842. News that Nippon Steel will increase its stake in Godo Steel supported stocks in the steel sector, while the increase of the dollar to a four-and-a-half-year high versus the yen buoyed exporters. Nissan Motor gained 1.4% and tech stock Toshiba soared 2.2%.

Hong Kong Hang Seng Index advanced 1.4% to close at 20,867. Commodities firms were in focus, led by Chalco, which surged 11%. Among telecom stocks, China Mobile gained 1.8% and China Unicom was up 2.9%. In China, however, the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index bucked the uptrend and fell 1.5% to end at 4115. Among property developers, China Vanke dropped 3.1% and Financial Street fell 3.7%.

Australian S&P/ASX 200 also rose 1.3% to 6,261. Mining company BHP Billiton gained 3.4% and rival Rio Tinto added 4.2% after similarly strong gains offshore. Woodside Petroleum was up 4.3% on discussion of a possible merger with British Gas. Taiwan ended 1.3% higher at 8,451.


8:15AM U.S. stock futures predict flat opening ahead of inflation data.

U.S. stock futures indicated a flat opening Thursday, with investors eagerly awaiting economic readings on inflation. The Labor Department is due to release its producer price index, which analysts expect to show a 0.5% increase, compared to 0.7% in April. Economists predict the core PPI, which excludes food and energy prices, will advance 0.2% as it did in April. The consumer price index is scheduled to come out on Friday.

Among pre-market highlights, United Technology (UTX: chart) lost 0.2% after it lifted its quarterly dividend 21% to 32 cents a share. Computer Sciences (CSC: chart) dropped 1% in the pre-open after its fiscal 2008 outlook fell short of analyst expectations. Of companies in focus, Goldman Sachs (GS: chart) and Bear Stearns (BSC: chart) are expected to report quarterly earnings.

The yield on the benchmark 10-year Treasury note hovered around 5.20% early Thursday, compared with 5.21% late Wednesday. Dow futures expiring in September rose 1, or 0.01%, to 13,606, while Standard & Poor''s 500 index futures rose 0.10, or 0.01%, at 1,530.30. Nasdaq 100 index futures advanced 3.75, or 0.19%, to 1,941.00.