UK stocks climbed for a fourth day, the longest stretch of gains in a month, after Greek politicians passed a package of austerity measures needed to avoid a default.
Antofagasta Plc led mining companies higher as base metals rallied in London and the copper producer said it expects to see "huge demand" from China. Kazakhmys Plc advanced as the company opened a secondary listing on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. Man Group Plc gained on a report the hedge fund manager may attract a takeover offer.
The benchmark FTSE 100 Index increased 52.56, or 0.9 per cent, to 5,819.44 at 3.11pm in London. The gauge has still lost 4.5 per cent from this year's peak in February amid concern that Greece will default on its debt.
"The affairs in Greece are dominating what is otherwise a relatively quiet market," said Yusuf Heusen, senior sales trader at IG Index in London. "Traders have been riding the recent wave of confidence on the broad-based assumption that the austerity vote will be passed."
Greek prime minister George Papandreou clinched enough votes to pass the first part of the austerity plan after gaining 155 votes in the 300-seat Parliament. The European Union has made the budget cuts a condition of providing further aid to the indebted country.
Antofagasta rallied 4.1 per cent to 1,357 pence as chief executive Jean Paul Luksic said the company expects to benefit from increased demand for metal as China and other emerging economies develop.
Mr Luksic, whose billionaire family controls Antofagasta, said the company will continue to invest in new mines in Chile and overseas to meet demand from the so-called BRIC economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China.
Kazakhmys, Kazakhstan's biggest copper producer, rallied 2.9 per cent to 1,337 pence as the company listed on the Hong Kong stock market. The shares also advanced as copper led base metals higher on the London Metal Exchange.
BHP Billiton, the world's largest mining company, rose 2 per cent to 2,389.5 pence and Xstrata Plc increased 2.9 per cent to 1,321 pence.
Ferrexpo Plc, a producer of iron ore in Ukraine, surged 4 per cent to 476 pence after the Independent cited speculation from unidentified sources that BHP may make a takeover offer for the Baar, Switzerland-based company at a price of 650 pence to 700 pence a share.
Glencore International, which sold shares at 530 pence apiece in an initial public offering last month, climbed 1.6 per cent to 494 pence. Analysts at UBS AG, Citigroup Inc. Morgan Stanley, Credit Suisse Group AG, BofA Merrill Lynch Global Research and Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc all recommended the world's largest commodity trader as they began research coverage of the commodities trader.
The banks advised Glencore on the $10 billion IPO and were restricted from publishing research until today.
Man Group rallied 3.8 per cent to 233.6 pence after the Independent reported renewed takeover speculation for the company, without saying where it got the information. The newspaper said previous talk had linked Man Group with Bank of New York Mellon Corp. and JPMorgan Chase and Co.
ICAP Plc also rallied in London today, surging 6.4 per cent to 464.4 pence.
Bloomberg
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