* Unemployment and claimant count better than expected
* Miners rally; metal prices up on Chinese data
* Sainsbury and International Power rise on firm results
By David Brett
LONDON, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 touched a
13-month high on Wednesday as miners led a broad-based rally,
lifted by data showing a surge in China's factory output which
pushed up metal prices.
By 1148 GMT the blue-chip index <> was 61.38 points
higher at 5291.93, just off a high of 5,300.28, a peak since
late September 2008, touched earlier in the session. It closed
0.1 percent lower on Tuesday, ending a four-session winning run.
Data from China, where factory output jumped to a 19-month
high in October, underpinned a mining sector rally.
Randgold Resources <RRS.L> climbed 5.9 percent, bouncing
back from a dip following Tuesday's announcement of
lower-than-expected quarterly profit to an all-time high as the
gold <XAU=> price rallied.
Rio Tinto <RIO.L>, Xstrata <XTA.L>, Lonmin <LMI.L>, Anglo
American <AAL.L>, Kazakhmys <KAZ.L> and Fresnillo <FRES.L>
gained 3.6-4.6 percent.
Hopes of an economic recovery in the UK were boosted as the
number of unemployed and those claiming jobless benefits in
Britain rose less than expected in October. []
"The figures make for at least relatively cheerful reading,"
said Philip Shaw, chief economist at Investec.
"On the face of it, it would suggest that there is a process
of a stabilisation in the labour market which is in train, which
in turn implies some sort of recovery in the economy," he said.
Banks were also in demand as investor risk appetite
returned, with HSBC <HSBA.L> up 1.6 percent, extending Tuesday's
gain following it third-quarter update, while Barclays <BARC.L>
recovered 0.5 percent of the previous session's sell-off.
Standard Chartered <STAN.L> and Lloyds Banking Group
<LLOY.L> were 1.4 and 1.1 percent higher respectively while
state-backed Royal Bank of Scotland <RBS.L> fell 1.5 percent.
INFLATION WATCH
The Bank of England's latest quarterly inflation report
showed broadly balanced risks of inflation being above or below
the 2011 target of 2 percent, and there is little immediate need
for more quantitative easing. []
"There is extremely loose monetary policy, macro data is
improving and we still have the potential for fund flows back
into equities and, until this changes, there's no reason for a
pull-back in equities," said Lars Kreckel, equity strategist at
Exane BNP Paribas.
Schroders <SDR.L> was a big FTSE riser, up 5.1 percent, as
UBD, Morgan Stanley and Citigroup all raised their price target
following the UK fund firm's update on Tuesday.
British life insurer Legal & General <LGEN.L> gained 5
percent, as one of the most equity-exposed stocks of the sector
was lifted by optimism on the market and a two-week high in the
FTSE bluechip index.
Standard Life <SL.L> and Aviva <AV.L> added 3.6 and 3.1
percent while the UK's Prudential <PRU.L> climbed 3.2 percent as
Morgan Stanley raised it price target.
Sainsbury <SBRY.L> added 2.9 percent after the supermarket
group's first-half profits beat expectations. []
Utility International Power <IPR.L> was up 4.4 percent after
it said it now expected 2009 earnings per share to be broadly in
line with 2008 and saw free cash flow significantly ahead of
last year after previously issuing a profit warning.
[]
Peer Scottish & Southern <SSE.L> fell 2 percent, however,
after it maintains guidance for its full-year after posting
first-half results.
Among individual fallers, Reed Elsevier <REL.L> slipped 5.5
percent after the publisher said its chief executive had
resigned and reported its adjusted operating margin would likely
be modestly lower next year. []
(Editing by David Cowell)
($1 = 0.5973 pound)
