Unilever sends FTSE 100 higher

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Trader in LondonImage source, Getty Images

(Close: London's leading shares closed up more than 1% in Thursday trading, partly thanks to strong results from Unilever.

The consumer goods maker was among the top gainers on the FTSE 100 index, up 3.6% on the strength of better-than-expected third-quarter sales, up 5.7%.

The benchmark FTSE 100 was up 69.06 points or 1.1% at 6,338.67.

Miners rose but then fell. Glencore turned a 3% gain into a 2% fall and BHP Billiton a 1.3% rise into a 0.6% fall.

Burberry was 8% lower at the end of play, having been 12% down on a warning of an "increasingly challenging" Chinese market and a fall in sales there.

On the currency markets, the pound was flat against the dollar at $1.5484 and rose 0.49% against the euro at €1.3540.