FTSE 100 opens higher as China data lifts miners, energy stocks

Energy majors Shell and BP also gained ground, rising close to 1% each on higher oil prices. On the earnings front, Reckitt Benckiser edged 0.1% after the Dettol and Lysol cleaning products maker beat full-year like-for-like net revenue expectations.

UK's FTSE 100 opened higher on Wednesday, with energy stocks and miners in the lead as commodity prices surged after data showed manufacturing activity at top metals consumer China expanded at the fastest pace in over a decade.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 was up 0.5% by 0815 GMT, while the more domestically focussed FTSE 250 midcap index was muted. Industrial metal miners surged 4.4%, with Rio Tinto and Glencore rising 4.4% and 3.7%, respectively.

Metal prices rose as China's manufacturing activity expanded, smashing market expectations after production zoomed following the lifting of COVID-19 restrictions last year. Energy majors Shell and BP also gained ground, rising close to 1% each on higher oil prices.

On the earnings front, Reckitt Benckiser edged 0.1% after the Dettol and Lysol cleaning products maker beat full-year like-for-like net revenue expectations. Shares of Persimmon fell 7.2% to the bottom of the FTSE 100 after the homebuilder warned of lower profit for 2023 and cut its annual dividend by 75%.