UK equities opened strongly on Thursday morning with mining stocks leading the risers on the back of optimism that US policy-makers will eventually agree on a deal to avert the 'fiscal cliff'."European equities are trading higher this morning managing to extend yesterday's afternoon late turnaround rally on comments by several US politicians involved in the budget negotiations who have been painting a fairly optimistic picture that a deal will be struck and therefore that the fiscal cliff will be avoided," said Markus Huber, the head of German HNW trading at ETX Capital.US Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner said yesterday that he was "optimistic that we can continue to work together to avert this crisis sooner rather than later." He said that Republicans were willing to put "revenue on the table" as long as it is accompanied by spending cuts. Meanwhile, President Barack Obama told the public in a press conference today to pressure Congress to act to avert the automatic tax increases, saying: "When the American people speak loudly enough, lo and behold, Congress listens. "So today I'm asking Congress to listen to the people who sent us here to serve. I'm asking Americans all across the country to make your voice heard." FTSE 100: Miners make gains early onMining group BHP Billiton was in demand after its Chief Executive Officer Marius Kloppers gave a cautiously optimistic outlook at the company's annual general meeting. He highlighted the company's diversified portfolio, which he stressed means it is "poised to capture the opportunities presented by markets in all stages of the demand cycle". Mining peers Vedanta, ENRC, Kazakhmys, Anglo American and Rio Tinto were also making gains. Yesterday's comments from Chinese Commerce Minister Chen Deming were also providing a lift. He said that China will definitely hit its growth target of at least 7.5% this year.DIY group Kingfisher was lower after seeing like-for-like sales fall 2.8% in the third quarter. In the UK, Kingfisher's biggest market, total sales declined by 0.7% to £1.05bn, and were down 3.8% in like-for-like terms. Utilities firm Pennon, which owns South West Water and waste business Viridor, rose after delivering a half-year pre-tax profit in line with expectations, up 3.4% to £111.1m.Real estate investment trust British Land edged higher after saying that it has bought the 2.3-acre Canal Corridor North site in Lancaster and is in talks to acquire the adjoining land to build a canal side, mixed-use scheme across a 10-acre site. Pay-TV and broadband group BSkyB was lower after Jefferies downgraded its rating on the stock from 'hold' to 'underperform' and cut its target price from 700p to 650p, saying: "we no longer believe Sky's valuation reflects the challenges it faces as the UK's incumbent pay TV platform as the market matures."FTSE 250: Invensys continues to soarTechnology group Invensys extended yesterday's surge after announcing last night that it is to sell its rail division to Siemens for £1.742bn, pay down its pension deficit and return £625m in cash to shareholders. Shares rocketed 27% yesterday and gained a further 12.6% this morning.Rigid plastic packaging supplier RPC Group dropped after seeing net profit halve in the first half as it was hit by restructuring costs and impairment losses.William Hill rose after coming a step closer to buying out its online joint venture partner Playtech after formally triggering a valuation process for William Hill Online.Electrical retailer Dixons was lower after full-year sales rose 4% to £3.29bn in the first half. The company's figures reflected the European economic divide as sales grew in the North, but took a hit in Southern countries.Brewer and pub operator Marston's edged higher after group revenue gained 5.5% to £720m and underlying profit before tax increased by 9.2%.FTSE 100 - RisersBurberry Group (BRBY) 1,320.00p +3.61%Pennon Group (PNN) 617.50p +3.17%Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,029.00p +3.01%Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,097.00p +2.91%Evraz (EVR) 237.80p +2.77%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 697.00p +2.73%Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) 272.30p +2.72%Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,082.00p +2.46%Standard Chartered (STAN) 1,475.00p +2.18%Anglo American (AAL) 1,741.00p +1.99%FTSE 100 - FallersWood Group (John) (WG.) 783.50p -3.87%Kingfisher (KGF) 276.00p -1.64%British Sky Broadcasting Group (BSY) 773.50p -0.71%Pearson (PSON) 1,175.00p -0.25%Diageo (DGE) 1,876.50p -0.11%FTSE 250 - RisersInvensys (ISYS) 315.30p +12.61%New World Resources A Shares (NWR) 268.30p +7.32%Kenmare Resources (KMR) 32.80p +6.15%SDL (SDL) 464.00p +4.62%Persimmon (PSN) 805.00p +4.27%Barratt Developments (BDEV) 196.50p +3.31%Regus (RGU) 98.95p +2.91%Talvivaara Mining Company (TALV) 96.85p +2.49%Ocado Group (OCDO) 72.70p +2.39%Redrow (RDW) 161.10p +2.29%FTSE 250 - FallersRPC Group (RPC) 404.70p -4.98%NMC Health (NMC) 176.00p -2.22%JD Sports Fashion (JD.) 720.00p -1.37%Perform Group (PER) 380.00p -1.30%Bwin.party Digital Entertainment (BPTY) 107.00p -0.93%BH Global Ltd. GBP Shares (BHGG) 1,110.00p -0.89%Savills (SVS) 441.60p -0.74%Imagination Technologies Group (IMG) 423.30p -0.68%Wetherspoon (J.D.) (JDW) 540.00p -0.64%Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 750.50p -0.60%BC