FTSE up on commodity gains

By 9:12 a.m., the FTSE 100 <.FTSE> was up 16.66 points at 5,061.21 having fallen 1.8 percent on Friday, notching up its largest weekly fall, at 3.8 percent, since March.

Commodity stocks were the biggest positive among large-caps, supported as copper and crude prices rose slightly helped by data from major commodities consumer, China.

HSBC's China Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) rose to an 18-month high in October of 55.4 from 55.0 in September, pointing to sustained strength in the country's fast-growing manufacturing sector.

Rio Tinto , Xstrata , Lonmin , Anglo American , Kazakhmys and Fresnillo gained 1.2 to 3.4 percent.

Gold miner Randgold Resources was the top FTSE 100 riser, up 2.7 percent after it agreed with AngloGold Ashanti to buy an additional 20 percent in the Moto gold project in the Democratic Republic of Congo for about $113.6 million.

Among the energy majors, BG Group , BP and Royal Dutch Shell added 0.4 to 1.4 percent.

"Today the market is trying to shake off that fall on Friday, but it will be a difficult week to navigate as investors are awaiting a batch of corporate data and a decision from the Bank of England later in the week," said Richard Hunter, head of equities at Hargreaves Landsdown.

Investors focussed on the latest Bank of England Monetary Policy Committee meeting, decisions from which are due on Thursday, with no change to interest rates expected but an increase in the bank's quantitative easing policy anticipated.

RBS SLIDES