LONDON (ShareCast) - A calmer session on financial markets prompted decent gains in the mining and property sectors on Friday, as bargain-hunters moved in to 'buy on the dip' after the recent volatility hit both sectors hard.

Anglo American, Glencore, Antofagasta, Vedanta and Randgold led the resources sector higher today, while real estate giants Land Securities, British Land and Hammerson advanced.

Newly merged mining conglomerate Glencore Xstrata also rose after saying that it has signed revolving credit facility worth $17.34bn to support general corporate activity. Shares gained strongly from the off.

After an earlier fall RBS rebounded slightly, as markets continue to digest the surprise departure of Chief Executive Officer Stephen Hester, as well as the bank's announcement yesterday to cut a further 2,000 jobs.

The bank was also in the news on reports that it, along with Barclays, Standard Chartered and 17 other banks, have been reprimanded and ordered to make provisions in relation to the alleged manipulation of interbank lending rates in Singapore. Barclays was also in positive territory this afternoon, while StanChart was lower.

Severn Trent was trading in the red, extending losses made earlier in the week following the news that a consortium of foreign bidders chose to walk away. The investors said that water group failed to "engage" in talks after rejecting their initial proposals.


FTSE 100 - Risers
Anglo American (AAL) 1,443.50p +3.11%
Glencore Xstrata (GLEN) 315.30p +3.01%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 916.00p +2.69%
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 1,330.00p +2.54%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 1,214.00p +2.45%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 4,869.00p +2.31%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 2,623.00p +2.26%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 62.70p +2.25%
Hammerson (HMSO) 507.50p +2.22%
Kingfisher (KGF) 350.00p +2.10%

FTSE 100 - Fallers
Severn Trent (SVT) 1,754.00p -1.74%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 679.80p -1.54%
Bunzl (BNZL) 1,243.00p -1.27%
BG Group (BG.) 1,180.50p -1.05%
Tesco (TSCO) 336.45p -1.01%
Smith & Nephew (SN.) 749.00p -0.99%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 3,450.50p -0.93%
Associated British Foods (ABF) 1,778.00p -0.89%
WPP (WPP) 1,119.00p -0.80%
Next (NXT) 4,552.00p -0.78%

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