The leading index broke above 5,750 briefly ahead of the opening bell on Wall Street, its highest since the end of April, led by a powerful mining sector.US stocks have started well - the Dow Jones is up almost 70 points - following strong results from Intel and JP Morgan and strong indications from the Federal Reserve that further stimulus is imminent.Xstrata, Anglo American, Rio Tinto and Antofagasta remain the pick of the miners, buoyed by the prospect of increased fiscal stimulus in America, the world's largest economy. Mexico based precious metals miner Fresnillo is also shining after it said silver production reached a record level in the third quarter. The company said it on track to achieve its production targets for 2010 of 340,000 ounces of attributable gold and 41.1m ounces of silver.Petrofac, the oil services group, is upgraded to 'overweight' from 'equal-weight' at the broker Morgan Stanley, which thinks business opportunities in Britain, Iraq and Algeria will lift the company's order backlog.Burberry fell back though despite a forecast-matching 17% rise in first half underlying sales to £641m. The luxury clothing group predicts full-year adjusted profit will be in the top half of the range of estimates. Comparable store sales rose 9%. Analysts think the shares are fully-priced. Standard Chartered, the emerging markets focused bank, has taken a tumble after saying it is preparing for stricter capital requirements for banks with a £3.26bn cash call. The company intends to issue the shares at 1,280p on the basis of 1 new share for every 8 held. The board believes that the new Basel III banking arrangements will see regulators raise requirements relating to minimum capital ratio levels and they may accelerate the transition timetable. The funds from the issue will enable the company to accommodate such increases without having to constrain risk weighted asset growth.The cash call overshadowed an upbeat third quarter trading statement. The bank said income in the July to September period was above the first half run rate for the business.Barclays is also lower on the concerns Standard may not be the only bank to tap shareholders in the near future. Medical equipment maker Smith & Nephew (S&N) is looking a bit poorly after US rival Biomet gave a third quarter update that disappointed. Biomet's 3% top line growth was below expectations, while the 11% decline in the company's European sales was also a worry to S&N shareholders.Rockhopper, the oil and gas explorer that's found oil in the North Falkland Basin, is mulling fundraising options and warns resource estimates for its Sea Lion discovery are currently about 30% less than predicted in June due to a lack of data. Miner Petropavlovsk has chopped the price of the Hong Kong listing of its base metals division IRC and scaled back the size of the float. The shares are now being sold at HK1.80 each, compared with an original prospectus range of HK$2.20 - HK$3. The shares are expected to start trading on 21 October, a week later than previously forecast. Headline operating profit this year at metallurgical coatings specialist Bodycote is set to be at the upper end of the range of City forecasts. The company said the range of forecasts for headline operating profit spans from £40.0m to £49.0m, with an average of £42.5m.Ascent Resources, the oil and gas exploration and production company, has received an independent report corroborating the highly prospective nature of its Petisovci-Lovaszi project area on the Hungarian-Slovenian border. An independent oil and gas assessor has estimated proven and probable (P50) reserves of gas in place at 412bn cubic feet (Bcf).Luxury interior furnishings firm Walker Greenbank is doing so well it's "comfortably" beating pre-recession levels, driven by growth at its wallpaper and fabric printing factories.
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