London midday: Stocks rise as policymakers speak out

The FTSE 100 rebounded strongly on Tuesday morning after falling to a fresh five-month low the day before, as policymakers from China and the US spoke out to downplay fears that have sparked market volatility over recent weeks.Renewed concerns over a slowdown in China and ongoing worries about a scaling back of stimulus in the States prompted another steep sell-off across global equity markets on Monday, meaning that the FTSE 100 had nearly erased all of its year-to-date gains.However, stocks were given a boost this morning by comments from certain members of the Federal Reserve who said that markets have overreacted to Chairman Ben Bernanke's suggestion of a 'taper' last week. Specifically, Minneapolis Fed President Narayana Kocherlakota yesterday released a statement and held a press conference to say that there was a "misperception" that the Fed has taken a more hawkish turn. He assured that the central bank was committed to an easy-money policy until the jobless rate falls further.Meanwhile, as fears mount over the credit squeeze in China, the country's central bank has downplayed dangers saying that money-market fluctuations are temporary and that there is ample liquidity in the system, lifting sentiment further this morning.Nevertheless, the market's focus is likely to be on the States today ahead of a barrage of key economic data this afternoon, including durable goods orders for May, the S&P/Case-Shiller house price index for April, new home sales for May and consumer confidence figures for June."It's going to be interesting to see how investors react to the data now that any improvement will increase the chances of [Federal Reserve] tapering in September, although I still think it will be December at the earliest," said Market Analyst Craig Erlam from Alpari.FTSE 100: Petrofac and Rexam disappoint with updates Oilfield service company Petrofac was under the weather after forecasting "modest growth" this year. Delays from an evacuation at the In Salah site in Algeria following a terrorist attack in January now mean that revenues and profits for the full year will be " significantly weighted towards the second half", the group said in a second-quarter trading update this morning.Consumer packaging giant Rexam was also heavy faller after admitting that full-year trading will be below expectations after a slowdown in beverage can volumes growth in the first half. The company also announced its intention to sell off its Healthcare business.Chip designer ARM Holdings was a high riser this morning after Investec upgraded the group from 'hold' to 'buy' after a 32% fall in the shares since an analyst day in May. "We see ARM as the most attractive long term investment in the sector with underpinned earnings growth."Financial services group Prudential was making gains this morning after Berenberg said that the stock's recent pull-back on emerging market concerns "represents a rare buying opportunity".Similarly, Fresnillo was higher after Citigroup raised the precious metals miner from 'sell' to 'neutral' after a recent sharp fall in the share price.Telecoms giant Vodafone was making gains a day after launching a £6.6bn takeover offer for Kabel Deutscheland. The stock was given a lift this morning by Nomura which upgraded its rating from 'neutral' to 'buy'.Engineering firm Wood Group rose after extending one of its longest running projects in the North Sea. FTSE 250: Domino Printing falls early onIndustrial coding, printing and marking technology group Domino Printing was lower after swinging into a pre-tax loss for the half year as difficult trading conditions across most of Europe persisted.Kazakhmys was rebounding after some heavy falls the day before. The company yesterday recommended shareholders to vote in favour of an offer for its 26% stake in ENRC, saying that it is the best option for shareholders despite the price being lower than hoped.Hotel group Millenium & Copthorne was in the red after Morgan Stanley cut its recommendation for the shares from 'overweight' to 'equal weight'. The broker said that it sees downside risks to forecasts, "and with Asian hotels and property under pressure, we think there could be a better entry point".FTSE 100 - RisersExperian (EXPN) 1,125.00p +3.50%ARM Holdings (ARM) 785.00p +3.49%easyJet (EZJ) 1,251.00p +3.47%Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 359.30p +2.98%Aviva (AV.) 329.00p +2.81%GKN (GKN) 289.40p +2.59%Weir Group (WEIR) 2,085.00p +2.41%HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 670.70p +2.30%CRH (CRH) 1,286.00p +2.14%Old Mutual (OML) 174.40p +2.11%FTSE 100 - FallersRexam (REX) 442.30p -4.90%Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 1,174.00p -4.86%Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 4,028.00p -1.44%Whitbread (WTB) 2,872.00p -1.27%Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 2,253.00p -1.10%Hammerson (HMSO) 468.40p -0.57%British Land Co (BLND) 552.00p -0.54%Severn Trent (SVT) 1,620.00p -0.49%National Grid (NG.) 715.50p -0.28%WPP (WPP) 1,054.00p -0.19%FTSE 250 - RisersElementis (ELM) 222.30p +5.76%Balfour Beatty (BBY) 231.00p +4.76%Alent (ALNT) 347.90p +4.69%Inchcape (INCH) 479.30p +4.51%Close Brothers Group (CBG) 947.00p +4.30%Dixons Retail (DXNS) 39.61p +3.96%3i Group (III) 324.80p +3.90%Paragon Group Of Companies (PAG) 293.90p +3.85%AZ Electronic Materials SA (DI) (AZEM) 308.90p +3.80%Ashtead Group (AHT) 620.50p +3.76%FTSE 250 - FallersMillennium & Copthorne Hotels (MLC) 524.00p -3.14%Domino Printing Sciences (DNO) 579.50p -3.09%African Barrick Gold (ABG) 109.90p -2.14%Hochschild Mining (HOC) 176.10p -1.46%Grainger (GRI) 141.40p -1.46%FirstGroup (FGP) 96.60p -1.43%Perform Group (PER) 563.00p -1.23%Polymetal International (POLY) 487.30p -1.22%Drax Group (DRX) 531.50p -1.21%Homeserve (HSV) 273.80p -1.19%