* FTSE up 1.2 pct as Fed minutes point to further QE
* Banks wane as Standard Chartered announces rights issue
* Commods higher after Chinese data
By David Brett
LONDON, Oct 13 (Reuters) - Britain's leading shares were
higher around midday on Wednesday after U.S. Federal Reserve
meeting minutes suggested it may soon feed markets with cheap
cash to boost growth, sparking a surge in equities.
Bullish earnings from JP Morgan <JPM.N> also underpinned
market gains. The results from the U.S. bank followed chipmaker
Intel <INTC.O>, which beat forecasts overnight on Tuesday.
Miners and energy stocks led the UK blue-chip rally, in
tandem with commodities helped by robust data from Asia
overnight.
By 1107 GMT, the FTSE 100 index <> was up 71.84 points,
or 1.2 percent, at 5,733.43, back up around highs last seen at
the end of April, and having closed down 0.2 percent at 5,661.59
on Tuesday.
However, banks missed out on the rebound after Asia-focused
Standard Chartered <STAN.L>, down 2.2 percent, announced plans
to raise $5.3 billion via a rights issue.
Barclays <BARC.L> dropped 1.6 percent as traders speculated
that the UK bank may have to raise up to 8 billion pounds due to
forthcoming tighter regulatory capital requirements, based on
Standard Chartered's move.
U.S. bank JPMorgan reported third-quarter earnings of $1.01
per share, which comfortably beat the Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S
forecast of $0.90 per share.
"Corporate earnings don't seem to be flagging too much and
there's the expectation that we will get the further asset
purchases in the United States which is fuelling the market,"
Tim Whitehead, head of portfolio service at Redmayne-Bentley,
said.
UK chipmaker Arm Holdings <ARM.L> was up 2.5 percent after
stronger-than-expected third-quarter results and a forecast for
better sales in the fourth quarter from U.S. peer Intel.
MINERS RISE
Miners and energy stocks rose along with base metal and
crude <CLc1> prices after Japanese machinery orders rose more
than expected.
Mexican precious metals miner Fresnillo <FRES.L> added 3.4
percent after it said its silver and gold production rose to a
record in the third quarter, beating expectations, and
reiterated that it is on track to meet its full-year targets.
[]
Announcements from China also helped, after the government
said it will promote sales of construction material in rural
areas, and as the world's fastest-growing economy reported
soaring crude imports.
Oil majors BP <BP.L> gained 1.6 percent, while oil services
firms Amec <AMEC.L> and Petrofac <PFC.L> added 4.0 and 4.5
percent respectively after Washington lifted its ban on
deepwater drilling seven weeks ahead of schedule.
Hammerson <HMSO.L> climbed 2.9 percent after Goldman Sachs
upgraded its rating for the real estate group to "conviction
buy" from "neutral".
Reed Elsevier <REL.L> was 1.1 percent higher, with traders
citing talk that Wolters Kluwer <WLSNc.AS> is interested in
making a bid for the Anglo-Dutch publishing company.
The number of Britons claiming jobless benefits last month
rose in line with expectations, official data showed, but the
wider measure of the unemployment rate dipped in August to its
lowest in more than a year. []
Luxury group Burberry <BRBY.L> slipped 2.3 percent as some
analysts questioned whether a small upgrade in profit guidance
was enough to sustain recent strong gains.
Ex-dividend factors knocked 1.77 points off the index, with
Cobham <COB.L>, Old Mutual <OML.L>, Tesco <TSCO.L> and Smith &
Nephew <SN.L> all losing payout attractions.
(Editing by Erica Billingham)
