Miners led the London market higher today, at the end of a week which saw it deliver its strongest weekly gains for almost four years.

The FTSE 100 Index rose 41.3 points to 6416.2, securing eight days of rises in a row as commodity stocks dominated the leaderboard.

Over the week the market lifted more than 280 points, or 4.7 per cent, its strongest performance since December 2011.

Germany's DAX was up one per cent, while France's Cac 40 was up 0.5 per cent. In New York the Dow Jones Industrial Average was up in early trading.

Traders were cheered by the release of US Federal Reserve minutes from September, which decided it was "prudent to wait" for more information before raising rates from near zero.

Investors took this to mean the Fed is unlikely to hike rates before the end of the year, giving them an element of certainty.

In UK economic news, Britain's construction sector shrank at its sharpest rate for almost three years in August, according to official data, fuelling concerns that the economy slowed in the third quarter.

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) said Britain's building output in August compared with last month plunged by 4.3 per cent, its biggest fall since December 2012.

It said new construction projects in August fell by 3.6 per cent compared with July, while repair and maintenance work slumped by 6.5 per cent in the same period.

The ONS also said the UK's trade deficit narrowed to £11.1 billion in August compared with £12.2bn in July. But economists had expected a smaller shortfall of £9.6bn.

Spreadex financial analyst Connor Campbell said: "As has been the case for the entire week a few dodgy figures couldn't distract the markets from their gains this Friday."

The economic data left the pound a cent down against the euro at just under 1.35 and little changed against the US dollar at 1.53.

Miner Glencore was up 8.5p at 129.1p, after the Anglo-Swiss-based firm said it would cut costs by reducing zinc production by 500,000 tonnes per year.

Anglo American was the strongest riser on the leaderboard up 49p to 726.5p, Fresnillo rose 30p to 734.5p and BHP Billiton climbed 49.5p to 1194.5p.

Oil stocks were buoyed by a rally in the price of a barrel of crude, with Brent Crude up to $53.

The price has risen recently due to mounting Middle East tension and a gradual easing of US shale output.

BP was up 2.7p at 391.6p and Royal Dutch Shell climbed 1.5p to 1833p.

However, heavy users of oil were in negative territory.

EasyJet fell 9p to 1695p and Carnival was 29p down to 3306p.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 Index were Anglo American up 49p at 726.5p, Glencore up 8.5p at 129.1p, Standard Chartered up 38p at 786.7p and Ashtead Group up 44p at 1045.

The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 Index were Sports Direct International down 49p at 690p, Persimmon down 57p at 1947p, TUI down 29p at 1212p and National Grid down 21.2p at 913.5p.