London open: Chinese GDP sparks rise, Footsie above 5,700

17th Jan 2012 08:26

The Footsie surged above the 5,700 level in early trading on Tuesday after the Chinese economy expanded at a faster-than-expected rate in the fourth quarter. It seems that investors have shrugged off last night's downgrade of the Eurozone's bailout fund, as just four stocks slipped into the red.Providing a lift was fourth quarter gross domestic product (GDP) data from China, easing fears of a hard landing in the world's second largest economy. The economy expanded by 8.9% year-on-year, less than the 9.1% rise seen in the third quarter but well ahead of the 8.6% forecast. Last night, Standard & Poor's cut the 'AAA' long-term credit rating of the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) to 'AA+'. "Following the lowering of the ratings on France and Austria, the rated long-term debt instruments already issued by the EFSF are no longer fully supported by guarantees from the EFSF guarantor members rated 'AAA' by Standard & Poor's," the statement read. RBS, MINERS ON THE RISELeading the risers was nationalised lender Royal Bank of Scotland after striking a deal with a Japanese bank to sell its aircraft leasing division for $7.3bn (£4.7bn). The bank said the sale of RBS Aviation Capital to Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation would strengthen its Tier 1 capital position and the proceeds would be used to reduce wholesale funding requirements and fund ongoing lending.Miners were also on the rise on Tuesday morning, helped by the strong growth in China. Steel giant Evraz jumped 3.8% after seeing crude steel output rise 3% in 2011, helped by an increase in volumes in the Czech Republic. Vedanta Resources, Eurasian Natural Resources Corp and BHP Billiton were also firmer, tracking metals prices higher.Even Rio Tinto joined in on the act, despite seeing full-year global iron ore shipments come in below production due to bad weather.Burberry was one stock that wasn't celebrating the cheery Chinese data, despite it being a high growth market for the group. The iconic British luxury brand topped the fallers in the opening minutes after reporting a significant slowdown in underlying revenue growth.Credit checking firm Experian was also lower despite seeing underlying revenue growth in all geographic sectors in the final quarter of 2011, with Latin America growing especially rapidly. FTSE 250: AFREN ROCKETS AFTER DISCOVERYOil and gas firm Afren surged 14% after making a significant new oil discovery offshore south-east Nigeria. Afren encountered 549ft true vertical thickness of net oil pay and 41ft of net gas pay in "excellent quality reservoir sands".Electrical retailer Dixons roared higher in early trading. The firm enjoyed a 23% jump in sales in the period from 4th to 14th January, which in turn cheered investors who pushed the share price up 9%.Housebuilder Taylor Wimpey rose after saying trading conditions have remained robust since its interim update in November 2011. The firm expects to post an 80% increase in operating profit for the second half of 2011. Pubs group Greene King was in demand after retail and food like-for-like (LFL) sales rose 8.2% and 11.1%, respectively, in the last seven weeks, helped by an exceptionally strong Christmas week's trading.BCFTSE 100 - RisersRoyal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 25.57p +4.71%Resolution Ltd. (RSL) 274.10p +4.62%Evraz (EVR) 415.00p +3.78%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 1,096.00p +2.72%Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,099.00p +2.33%Weir Group (WEIR) 2,146.00p +2.29%Man Group (EMG) 112.80p +2.27%Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) 750.00p +2.04%GKN (GKN) 206.80p +2.02%BHP Billiton (BLT) 2,121.00p +1.97%FTSE 100 - FallersBurberry Group (BRBY) 1,270.00p -2.31%Experian (EXPN) 870.00p -0.63%Compass Group (CPG) 607.00p -0.49%Serco Group (SRP) 511.00p -0.39%FTSE 250 - RisersAfren (AFR) 131.60p +14.43%Dixons Retail (DXNS) 10.81p +9.30%CSR (CSR) 221.60p +7.05%Lancashire Holdings (LRE) 736.00p +4.47%Betfair Group (BET) 863.50p +3.29%Aquarius Platinum Ltd. (AQP) 182.90p +3.04%Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 41.98p +3.02%Imagination Technologies Group (IMG) 551.50p +2.89%Bovis Homes Group (BVS) 466.60p +2.87%Fidelity China Special Situations (FCSS) 77.00p +2.74%FTSE 250 - FallersExillon Energy (EXI) 265.00p -2.07%Domino's Pizza UK & IRL (DOM) 422.90p -1.81%Go-Ahead Group (GOG) 1,275.00p -1.39%Ophir Energy (OPHR) 295.60p -1.07%BH Global Ltd. USD Shares (BHGU) 11.8 -0.92%Dairy Crest Group (DCG) 320.10p -0.84%AZ Electronic Materials SA (DI) (AZEM) 262.80p -0.79%COLT Group SA (COLT) 89.05p -0.72%ITE Group (ITE) 212.20p -0.66%Laird (LRD) 155.00p -0.64%