London open: Strong start as Footsie climbs back over 5,200

Just three stocks were in the red early on, as the Footsie attempted to claw its way back after a week of turmoil in global markets.The US Federal Reserve last night pledged to freeze short-term US interest rates for two years and opened the door to more quantitative easing, in an attempt to restore confidence to nervous investors. This seems to have spurred demand for commodities, with nearly all major resource prices making gains. As such, miners Xstrata and Kazakhmys are higher, joined by commodities trader Glencore.Standard Life was among the best performers after operating profits at the savings, investments and pensions firm jumped by 44% in the first half.Global banking giant HSBC was higher after revealing that US lender Capital One is the buyer of its card and retail services business in the US. HSBC said its post-tax gain on the sale is estimated to be $2.4bn. FTSE 250 travel firm TUI Travel said it is on track to meet full-year expectations after operating profits surged in the group's third quarter. The package tour firm saw a 13% increase in revenue and a 57% increase in operating profit for its third quarter (to June 30) compared to 2010, when the effects of the Icelandic volcano ash cloud were disrupting travel plans across Europe. Meanwhile, shareholders in wounded bid target Micro Focus got some good news on Wednesday as the legacy software specialist said it is trading ahead of expectations. Shares jumped by a fifth early on. The upbeat trading statement makes a change from profit warnings, of which there have been two this year.Greene King, Northumbrian Water and Pennon were the heaviest fallers on the FTSE 250 after going ex-dividend.Shares in internet video security company IndigoVision dropped after the company warned that it will not meet its sales and profits targets for the year ended 31 July.BCFTSE 100 - RisersMan Group (EMG) 194.00p +6.95%Weir Group (WEIR) 1,815.00p +6.58%Xstrata (XTA) 1,098.50p +5.42%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 27.57p +5.19%Barclays (BARC) 188.50p +5.13%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 33.49p +4.28%Kazakhmys (KAZ) 1,034.00p +3.92%Glencore International (GLEN) 393.50p +3.84%GKN (GKN) 189.60p +3.83%Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,366.00p +3.72%FTSE 100 - FallersStandard Chartered (STAN) 1,464.00p -1.28%RSA Insurance Group (RSA) 114.40p -0.95%Vodafone Group (VOD) 160.90p -0.37%FTSE 250 - RisersMicro Focus International Plc (MCRO) 301.80p +20.38%Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 58.35p +9.37%Ashtead Group (AHT) 126.60p +8.48%Afren (AFR) 101.90p +7.60%Ferrexpo (FXPO) 367.10p +6.87%TUI Travel (TT.) 177.80p +6.15%Centamin Egypt Ltd. (CEY) 108.10p +5.88%Kenmare Resources (KMR) 43.70p +5.81%Premier Foods (PFD) 14.28p +5.39%Telecom Plus (TEP) 577.50p +5.00%FTSE 250 - FallersGreene King (GNK) 430.10p -3.04%Northumbrian Water Group (NWG) 455.80p -1.98%Perform Group (PER) 160.00p -1.54%Pennon Group (PNN) 662.50p -1.41%PZ Cussons (PZC) 355.10p -0.98%Spirent Communications (SPT) 123.90p -0.80%BH Macro Ltd. EUR Shares (BHME) € 17.41 -0.80%BH Macro Ltd. GBP Shares (BHMG) 1,776.00p -0.78%Synergy Health (SYR) 855.00p -0.70%Ladbrokes (LAD) 127.90p -0.70%