The FTSE100 is currently up 80.7 points at 5,587.5 with the FTSE250 also up 271.4 points at 9,053.6 and the FTSE Smallcaps 27.3 points higher at 3,286.

Volume is good with 1.3 billion shares changing hands in 174,690 deals.


Looking ahead to Wall Street, the DJIA is seen opening around 50 points higher, adding to yesterday's triple-digit bounce, after a stronger than expected CPI figure convinced Wall Street that the Federal Reserve will raise rates at the end of the month, dealers said.


Today’s look at individual Stocks:


The mining sector led the bounce back from recent weakness thanks to renewed buying across commodities on the back of a weaker dollar.


Anglo American led the way, up 104p to 1,961p, boosted by an upgrade to buy from neutral with a 2,150p target by Merrill Lynch. The US broker said the recent share price downward correction of 28% in just 4 weeks, combined with the significant earnings upgrades leaves it believing there is value to be had.


Xstrata is also up 87p at 1,909p, helped by Canadian approval for its hostile bid for Inco.


Kazakhmys is also 50.5p at 990p. BHP Billiton is up 48p at 964p and Rio Tinto is up 110p at 2,695p.


The Oil majors were also back in on form today as crude prices crept back towards $70 a barrel on news of a fall in US crude stockpiles, with China's strong industrial growth figures also boosting demand expectations.


BP shares gained 8p at 594p, Shell gained 30p at 1,765p and BG Group shares gained 17.5p at 652.5p.


Bid speculation helped British Airways gain 13.25p to 351.5p, propelled by vague talk that Emirates Airlines could be considering a bid for the UK flag carrier, although traders were sceptical about this.


Staying with M&A activity, vague talk of a possible bid interest again helped Lloyds TSB shares gain 11p at 525.5p, while other financial issues were also higher with the market rebound.


Prudential was up 18p at 558p, Schroders was up 37p at 999p and Man Group gained 62p at 2,342p.


Imperial Tobacco however is currently down 3p to 1,610p, despite an upgrade to buy from sell by SG Securities.


AB Ports jumped 46.5p to 873p amid talk that Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein was once again busy buying shares in the market for Australia's Macquarie Bank, aiming to trump Goldman Sachs' raised offer. AB Ports later revealed that it has received 'a pre-conditional' takeover proposal from a consortium led by Australia's Macquarie, indicating a cash price of 'at least' 840p per share. In a note to clients, Investec noted the possibility of a bid battle pushing the shares up to 900p.


MyTravel Group shares dropped 8p to 220.5p, after news of narrowed first half losses from the tour operator were offset by weaker bookings visibility for the summer season. MyTravel saw its first-half losses narrow to £70.3 million, compared to a loss of £119.5 million a year earlier. However, the group said that summer 2006 bookings continue to be behind last year.


Invest my £1000


After yesterday’s comments regarding the state of play with the £1000, everyone will be pleased to hear that Tullow Oil (TLW) is up today some 4.90% at 315.50p. The next update shall be posted next Wednesday.