By Atul Prakash
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's top share index rose from a 15-month low on Monday, led by a sharp rally in mining stocks following better than expected trade data from China.
The mining index (FTNMX1770) surged 3 percent, the biggest sectoral gainer, after Chinese exports rose 15 percent in September and copper imports rose nearly as much, encouraging investors over demand in the world's top metals consumer.
Anglo American (L:AAL), Randgold Resources (L:RRS), Rio Tinto (L:RIO), Fresnillo (L:FRES) and BHP Billiton (L:BLT), up 2.7 to 4.2 percent, were among the top gainers.
Anglo American was also helped by more reports of potential asset sales in Chile, while Rio Tinto got some strength from a report saying its stock could rise as much as 20 percent in the next year.
Fund managers and analysts advised caution, saying investors were taking advantage of an 18 percent drop in the UK mining index in the past two months on global growth concerns and a firmer dollar.
"The reason for the mining shares being up today is better trade data from China. We are seeing some cheap buying because they have been badly hit over the last few weeks," John B Smith, senior fund manager at Brown Shipley, said.
"But the message still is to stay underweight. We still haven't have enough confirmation that the global growth prospects are attractive and that China is completely out of the woods. And we are not seeing any sustained recovery in commodity and metals prices."
Weak European economic data and the winding down of the Federal Reserve's monetary stimulus programme have hit global equities over the past week. The IMF's member countries said on Saturday bold action was needed to bolster the global recovery.
Underscoring the fragile nature of the European economy, S&P on Friday lowered its ratings outlook on France.
At 1108 GMT (12.08 p.m. BST), Britain's benchmark blue-chip FTSE 100 index (FTSE) was up 0.4 percent at 6,363.76 points after falling earlier to 6,294.54, its lowest level in 15 months. It has fallen more than 8 percent in three weeks.
Charts pointed to further weakness and showed the FTSE's next support was 6,023 points, its June 2013 low, after the index broke out of an ascending trend started last year.
Airlines were supported by a further fall in Brent crude oil prices, which dipped below $88 a barrel to their lowest in almost four years after Middle East producers signalled they would keep output high.
IAG (L:ICAG), which owns British Airways and Iberia, and easyJet (L:EZJ) rose 2.9 percent and 1.1 percent respectively.
Concerns about global growth hit chipmakers, with ARM Holdings (L:ARM) extending its previous session's fall, down 2 percent following a sales warning by Microchip Technology (O:MCHP) last week.
(Additional reporting by Francesco Canepa, editing by John Stonestreet)