London's blue chips are clawing back some of yesterday's losses in early dealings, thanks to strong mining stocks.Kazakhmys, Xstrata, Rio Tinto, Antofagasta, Randgold Resources, Anglo American and Vedanta Resources are all in demand.Lloyds Banking is said to be considering alternatives to joining the government's toxic asset protection scheme (APS), including a potential rights issue or the sale of Scottish Widows.Bus and rail operator Stagecoach said conditions remain challenging as it reported a 4.4% rise in like-for-like UK bus revenues and a 0.9% rise in UK rail revenues in the 12 weeks to July 26. Oil explorer Dana Petroleum reported a sharp drop in first half profits in what it called a very difficult macro economic environment. Profit before tax for the period was £21.9m from £133.1m last time. Online gaming giant PartyGaming saw pre-tax profits rise at the half year stage, but revenues fell by 21% predominantly due to the strength of the dollar against the euro and sterling. Oil explorer Heritage Oil reduced half year losses and said growth prospects never looked better.Independent News and Media, the Irish publisher of the UK's Independent newspaper, swung to a first-half net loss and said it expects full-year profits to be at the low end of guidance.BAE Systems is still lower after the defence group announced yesterday that it failed to secure a follow-on contract for the production of vehicles for the US Department of Defense (DoD).FTSE 100 - RisersSmith & Nephew (SN.) 550.00p +3.09%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 965.50p +3.04%Xstrata (XTA) 815.00p +2.90%Rio Tinto (RIO) 2,440.00p +2.87%Antofagasta (ANTO) 759.50p +2.57%Tullow Oil (TLW) 1,079.00p +2.47%Randgold Resources (RRS) 3,554.00p +2.13%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 106.87p +2.07%FTSE 100 - FallersBAE Systems (BA.) 300.60p -1.76%Rexam (REX) 264.70p -0.45%Carnival (CCL) 1,900.00p -0.26%Shire Plc (SHP) 1,025.00p -0.19%Fresnillo (FRES) 600.00p -0.17%Unilever (ULVR) 1,660.00p -0.12%Diageo (DGE) 955.00p -0.10%HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 663.20p -0.06%