Burberry helps FTSE rise

The FTSE 100 was up 0.48 per cent in early morning trading on Thursday.

At 09:13 BST, the index had risen 24.78 points to 5,167.38.

This followed similar gains last night in New York – where the Dow Jones closed up 0.52 per cent to 9,829.87.

Again the miners were key to holding up the index.

Xstrata was up 2.73 per cent, Eurasian gained 2.58 per cent and Kazakhmys rallied 2.00 per cent.

Leading the gains was Burberry – rising 2.73 per cent – as the fashion label rebounded from recent drops.

At an interview for London Fashion Week and the firm's launch of its catwalk collection, Burberry chief executive Angela Ahrendts stated the UK business 'has been on fire for quite a while now' as demand for luxury goods holds up.

Prudential rose 2.04 per cent.

Property giant Liberty International was down 5.76 per cent as it announced it was looking to raise £300 million from shareholders.

Developer Barratt is also looking to raise £720.5 million, while Redrow is aiming for £150 million – the property sector looks to bolster its balance sheets.

Thomas Cook dropped 2.03 per cent and Royal Bank of Scotland dropped 1.69 per cent.