London open: FTSE 100 near seven-week high after China data

Worries about a sharp slowdown in China temporarily eased on Monday morning, pushing the FTSE 100 to levels not seen in nearly seven weeks.London's benchmark index started the new week trading near the 6,600 level early on. The last time the FTSE 100 closed higher was on May 30th."European markets opened positively today as data from China which showed that second-quarter growth fell in line with expectations extinguished investors' concerns over a slowdown in China," said Financial Trader Shavaz Dhalla from Spreadex. As expected, the annual rate of Chinese economic growth fell from 7.7% to 7.5%. This will come as a relief to investors after the country's Finance Minister warned on Friday that growth would average 7.0% in 2013, below the government's 7.5% target.Meanwhile, industrial production growth slowed down more than expected in June, from 9.2% to 8.9% (forecast: 9.1%), but retail sales unexpectedly accelerated from 12.9% to 13.3% (12.9%).Market Analyst Craig Erlam from Alpari said that the improvement in retail sales "is going to be essential in the coming years, as China attempts to change course, from an investment driven economy to a consumer driven one".Helping sentiment this morning was another record close on Wall Street on Friday after both JPMorgan and Wells Fargo beat consensus forecasts with their quarterly results. Citigroup and Boeing will be in focus today ahead of their earnings releases.FTSE 100: Miners gain after Chinese dataIn-line figures from China sparked a strong reaction from miners early on with Fresnillo, Glencore Xstrata, Rio Tinto and Anglo American making gains in London.Burberry, another stock heavily exposed to the Chinese economy, was also in demand this morning.Banking stocks including Lloyds, RBS and HSBC were higher with the latter announcing this morning that it is offloading its private banking assets in Germany.AstraZeneca even rose despite revealing that CFO Simon Lowth would be leaving to join oil and gas firm BG Group.FTSE 250: Salamander falls after abandoning wellSalamander Energy's shares dropped this morning after saying it plugged and abandoned its G4/50-4 exploration well in the Gulf of Thailand. The well encountered a 119 metre section of quality P20 Miocene sandstones, but they were found to be water-wet following logging and sampling.Support services and construction group Interserve edged higher after agreeing to acquire Topaz Oil and Gas from Renaissance SAOG for $46m.FTSE 100 - RisersFresnillo (FRES) 1,007.00p +2.65%Schroders (SDR) 2,487.00p +2.51%Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,398.00p +1.97%Rio Tinto (RIO) 2,853.50p +1.95%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 310.30p +1.94%Glencore Xstrata (GLEN) 265.30p +1.86%Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. (ENRC) 212.10p +1.78%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 68.91p +1.74%BT Group (BT.A) 344.90p +1.68%Melrose Industries (MRO) 276.00p +1.62%FTSE 100 - FallersG4S (GFS) 206.30p -1.53%Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 1,280.00p -1.08%Serco Group (SRP) 615.00p -0.89%Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 411.20p -0.65%Tullow Oil (TLW) 1,094.00p -0.64%Aggreko (AGK) 1,806.00p -0.33%FTSE 250 - RisersSupergroup (SGP) 930.50p +3.79%Alent (ALNT) 381.30p +3.47%Sports Direct International (SPD) 586.50p +3.35%Ferrexpo (FXPO) 157.50p +3.01%Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) 366.00p +2.84%African Barrick Gold (ABG) 107.90p +2.76%Home Retail Group (HOME) 148.80p +2.55%Perform Group (PER) 494.40p +2.32%KCOM Group (KCOM) 83.65p +2.26%Evraz (EVR) 94.70p +2.21%FTSE 250 - FallersSalamander Energy (SMDR) 143.50p -5.41%Aveva Group (AVV) 2,535.00p -4.90%Man Group (EMG) 90.10p -2.01%Rathbone Brothers (RAT) 1,646.00p -1.32%Phoenix Group Holdings (DI) (PHNX) 710.00p -1.25%Daejan Holdings (DJAN) 4,011.00p -1.21%Ted Baker (TED) 1,799.00p -1.15%Senior (SNR) 277.40p -1.11%Menzies(John) (MNZS) 736.50p -1.07%ITE Group (ITE) 298.90p -1.03%BC