Commods drive 1.5 pct FTSE bounce as Q3 kicks off
* Commodity prices lift miners, energy stocks
* Broad based rally as Q3 gets underway * Marks & Spencer up on trading news
By Simon Falush
LONDON, July 1 (Reuters) - Robust commodity prices boosted energy and mining stocks which led a broad-based rally at the start of the third quarter, lifting Britain's top share index 1.4 percent higher by midsession on Wednesday.
Crude rose nearly 2 percent to above $71 per barrel CLc1 fuelling a rise in heavyweight energy stocks, which added most points to the index.
BP (BP.L), Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L), BG Group (BG.L), Tullow Oil (TLW.L) added between 1.2 and 3.1 percent.
By 1027 GMT the FTSE 100 .FTSE was up 62.45 points at 4,311.66, after closing 44.82 points, or 1 percent, lower on Tuesday at 4,249.21.
The index ended up 8.2 percent on the quarter, the best such performance since the final quarter of 2003, and has gained 22.8 percent since touching a six-year low on March 9.
For a FACTBOX on European stock market performance in the first half of 2009 double click on [ID:nLU94057].
"There was a tremendous rally in Q2, but there are big hurdles... in terms of company earnings and data to clear," said Henk Potts, strategist at Barclays Wealth.
Like energy stocks, miners also benefited from firmer raw materials, with metal prices stronger across the board.
Xstrata (XTA.L), Rio Tinto (RIO.L), Kazakhmys (KAZ.L), Eurasian Natural Resources (ENRC.L), Anglo American (AAL.L), Lonmin (LMI.L) and BHP Billiton (BLT.L) added between 5.1 and 2.6 percent.
The blue chip index's level is little moved since the start of May, however, and investors are awaiting more concrete evidence on the prospects for economic recovery before pushing the market substantially higher.
One signal indicating that the economy may soon start to recover came from manufacturing PMI data which showed activity declining at its slowest pace in more than a year while output rose for the first time in 15 months. [ID:nLAG003564]
The CIPS/Markit purchasing managers' index rose to 47.0 last month from 45.4 in May, the highest since May 2008 and beating forecasts, leaving investors confident to hold onto equities that had made early gains. Continued...
