Vodafone Share News (VOD)

Strong data from China and increasing momentum in the UK economic recovery pushed the FTSE 100 into positive territory on Friday, though markets were rangebound as gains were limited ahead of the weekend.The FTSE 100 was trading just 0.2% higher by midday with just 25 points separating the index's intraday low (6,530) and high (6,555)."Markets have hit a lull as the City goes into holiday mode after a busy two weeks dominated by economic figures and news from all the major policy decision makers," said Toby Morris, Senior Sales Trader at CMC Markets.Nevertheless, the upside bias this morning has been helped by strong gains in the mining sector as traders reacted to yet more upbeat economic data from China. Yesterday, Chinese trade figures were well received by the market with both imports and exports smashing forecasts in July.Today it was revealed Chinese industrial production increased at an annual rate of 9.7% in July, an acceleration from the 8.9% rise in June and ahead of expectations (consensus forecast: +8.9%). This was the biggest jump since February "in a sign that the targeted investment by the government, in response to the slowing growth this year, is already having a positive impact," according to Market Analyst Craig Erlam from Alpari.Consumer-price inflation remained steady at 2.7% in July, under the expected increase to 2.8%. With inflation still well below the 3.5% government target, analysts believe it leaves Beijing with room to implement more stimulus to boost growth.Chinese retail sales growth however fell slightly from 13.3% to 13.2% last month (consensus forecast: +13.5%). Meanwhile, it seems like there's no letting up in positive economic data closer to home with the overall UK trade deficit shrinking to £1.55bn in June, down from £2.61bn previously and well below the £2.20bn forecast, as exports picked up more than expected. This is the smallest deficit since January and "further brightens the economic picture", according to UK Economist Martin Beck from Capital Economics.FTSE 100: Miners, Vodafone making gainsResource stocks were providing a lift on the FTSE 100 on Friday morning as the demand outlook improved on the back of the data from China. Randgold and Fresnillo, two stocks hit hard earlier in the week after disappointing with second-quarter results, were among the high risers, along with Vedanta, Anglo American. Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton and Glencore Xstrata.Vodafone was making gains after announcing that it will be launching a 4G service later this month. The sector has also been given a lift by the announcement that Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim's America Movil has trumped Telefonica's bid to take over Dutch telecoms group KPN, offering €7.2bn for the 70% he doesn't already own.Tesco was on shopping lists this morning after saying it was in talks to merge its Chinese retail operations with those of China Resources Enterprise to create a supermarket giant with other annual sales of £10bn.Lloyds was also making gains after Morgan Stanley upgraded the bank from 'equalweight' to 'overweight', saying that it will benefit from a strong housing market while visibility on its future payout improves.FTSE 100 - RisersFresnillo (FRES) 1,003.00p +4.81%Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 4,581.00p +3.64%Anglo American (AAL) 1,501.50p +3.23%Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,204.00p +2.21%Glencore Xstrata (GLEN) 286.30p +2.10%Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,079.50p +2.09%Antofagasta (ANTO) 893.50p +1.94%Vodafone Group (VOD) 200.10p +1.68%BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,930.50p +1.66%British Sky Broadcasting Group (BSY) 855.00p +1.66%FTSE 100 - FallersStandard Life (SL.) 368.70p -2.33%Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 476.60p -1.95%Persimmon (PSN) 1,227.00p -1.60%BAE Systems (BA.) 432.90p -1.39%Next (NXT) 4,931.00p -1.34%Barclays (BARC) 283.30p -1.27%Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,545.00p -1.15%ARM Holdings (ARM) 870.00p -1.14%InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG) 1,956.00p -1.11%TUI Travel (TT.) 376.50p -1.03%FTSE 250 - RisersEvraz (EVR) 101.50p +6.56%African Barrick Gold (ABG) 121.20p +5.57%Hochschild Mining (HOC) 203.30p +5.12%Diploma (DPLM) 643.00p +4.98%Dialight (DIA) 1,245.00p +4.80%Domino Printing Sciences (DNO) 683.50p +4.67%Kenmare Resources (KMR) 31.48p +4.07%Renishaw (RSW) 1,695.00p +3.99%RPS Group (RPS) 258.30p +3.82%Lonmin (LMI) 338.00p +3.81%FTSE 250 - FallersFirstGroup (FGP) 108.00p -3.49%Ocado Group (OCDO) 281.00p -3.40%Savills (SVS) 626.50p -2.11%Barratt Developments (BDEV) 344.50p -1.85%Bumi (BUMI) 220.00p -1.79%Howden Joinery Group (HWDN) 284.30p -1.76%Phoenix Group Holdings (DI) (PHNX) 753.50p -1.76%Halfords Group (HFD) 365.50p -1.75%Bellway (BWY) 1,477.00p -1.66%Rightmove (RMV) 2,384.00p -1.65%BC