By Alistair Smout and Kit Rees
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's top share index rose on Wednesday, led by mining and banks stocks, as strong China export data helped to subdue concern over growth in the world's second-largest economy.
China's exports rose in March for the first time in nine months, a sign of economic stabilisation in the world's largest consumer of many commodities.
That lifted metals prices and mining stocks, with the sector (FTNMX1770) up 3.6 percent. Oil and gas shares also rallied, as Brent crude remained over $44 a barrel [O/R].
"Commodities remain very much in focus – we've seen base metals soaring in the last few hours, helped by upbeat Chinese import data," said Tony Cross, market analyst at Trustnet Direct.
BHP Billiton (L:BLT) rose 5.6 percent. Plans to cut jobs at a copper mine in Chile also helped the shares.
Asia-exposed banks Standard Chartered (L:STAN) and HSBC (L:HSBA) rose 9 percent and 5.5 percent respectively.
Standard Chartered is also set to become one of 18 members to join China's yuan-denominated gold benchmark, the Shanghai Gold Exchange said.
Britain's FTSE 100 rose 88.70 points, or 1.4 percent, to 6,331.09 by 1109 GMT, its highest level in more than four months. Financial firms, mining companies and energy stocks combine added more than 60 points to the index's rise.
Tesco (L:TSCO) fell 4.9 percent after its full-year results beat expectations. Britain's biggest retailer also reported its first quarterly sales growth for three years, but it was cautious on its near-term outlook and said a price war in the sector would put pressure on profits.
"Its outlook disappointed investors as the growing spectre posed by discounters Aldi and Lidl remains," said Russ Mould, Investment Director at AJ Bell.
Outside the blue chips, Premier Foods (L:PFD) dropped over 25 percent after U.S. spice maker McCormick (NYSE:MKC) called off its takeover proposal for the British food company. Premier remains up over 31 percent since March 23, when it rejected McCormick's initial bid.
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Mike Dolan, Markets Editor EMEA.