After a strong finish on Wall Street last night - with the Dow Jones having its best day of the year so far - the Footsie opened up nearly 0.5% higher.Mining giant BHP Billiton was a high riser after it was able to achieve another iron ore output record in the year ended 30 June, its eleventh consecutive annual production record. The firm said that annual production records were achieved across four commodities and ten operations "as a result of our strategy to invest throughout the economic cycle."Fellow miners Lonmin, ENRC and Rio Tinto were also among the best performers.Barclays was making gains of over 2%, attempting to claw its way back from the recent sell-off. Shares are still 5% lower than they were this time last week.Drugs giant AstraZeneca fell lower after it (along with Bristol-Myers Squibb) received a blow when the US Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) Advisory Committee rejected their jointly-developed diabetes drug, dapagliflozin, though the vote was a close one.Advertising firm WPP was in demand, extending gains from yesterday when it announced that it had invested US$3m for a minority stake in Affectiva, a technology firm that specialises in measuring the emotional responses of consumers.London Stock Exchange (LSE) rose higher after the stock markets operator put behind it the disappointment of its failed merger with its Canadian counterpart TMX to announce a strong start to its financial year. "With an increase in total income of 14% and growth in many business areas, these strong first quarter results confirm that we continue to make good progress," said Xavier Rolet, the chief executive.Americas-focused silver and gold miner Hochschild Mining edged higher after it said that it is on track to hit its production targets despite silver output falling by 13% in the first half. BCFTSE 100 - RisersARM Holdings (ARM) 600.50p +3.09%ITV (ITV) 66.35p +2.47%BHP Billiton (BLT) 2,380.00p +2.32%Barclays (BARC) 216.10p +2.13%International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (IAG) 231.40p +1.98%WPP (WPP) 722.00p +1.83%IMI (IMI) 1,065.00p +1.82%Lonmin (LMI) 1,341.00p +1.59%Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) 771.50p +1.58%Rio Tinto (RIO) 4,434.00p +1.56%FTSE 100 - FallersICAP (IAP) 460.10p -2.48%Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 2,107.00p -1.54%AstraZeneca (AZN) 2,985.50p -1.09%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 42.87p -0.63%Compass Group (CPG) 580.50p -0.43%Tullow Oil (TLW) 1,275.00p -0.31%GKN (GKN) 226.60p -0.26%Admiral Group (ADM) 1,546.00p -0.26%Experian (EXPN) 809.00p -0.25%Sainsbury (J) (SBRY) 315.20p -0.25%