MINING stocks dominated the risers’ board in London today as the FTSE 100 Index built on Monday’s gains.

The Footsie bounced back yesterday after a survey signalled the first growth in the US services sector for more than a year.

This was enough to shake off jitters caused by Friday’s weak US jobs report and meant the top flight stood at 5050.3 after climbing another 25.8 points in the first hour of business today.

Rio Tinto moved up 71p to 2635p as it signed an investment agreement with the government of Mongolia for the development of a copper-gold complex.

Shares in supermarket giant Tesco fell despite half-year underlying profits coming in slightly ahead of market expectations at £1.55 billion. UK sales growth, excluding petrol, of 2.7% was described by analysts as "sluggish" and resulted in shares falling 3p to 388.4p.

Marks & Spencer supplier Northern Foods was the biggest faller in the FTSE 250 Index after it warned margins in its frozen foods division were under pressure. While the company said it remained on course to meet expectations for the year, shares in the Fox’s biscuits firm declined 2.75p to 68.5p.