A bright start to the last trading day of the week has seen Invensys climb the top of the FTSE 100 after the technology group announced a deal with Chinese train company CSR.

Invensys - whose shares were undermined in July when its rail business took a £13m hit on three mass transit contracts - has signed a contract with CSR to supply its control and signalling system Westrace in China. The two partners will also sell other systems into the Chinese mass transit market - estimated to be worth €670m a year - as well as bidding for international contracts in the Middle East, India and south east Asia. James Drummond, chief executive of Invensys Rail, said:

China is a strategically important market for us. The country is investing heavily in its railway infrastructure and represents a significant growth opportunity for us in Asia.



We expect further collaborations to be announced which would logically cover mainline and high speed and this, in turn, underlines the pivotal position Invensys rail is developing for itself.



The news lifted Invensys shares 13.3p to 290.2p. Its recent troubles have led to Invensys being tipped as a possible takeover target for the likes of ABB, Siemens, General Electric or Emerson Electric.

Overall the FTSE 100 has climbed 60.01 points to 5600.15 as the bulls get the better of the bears so far. A rise in Asian markets after Wall Street edged higher has helped sentiment, while mining groups moved ahead after metal prices continued to climb. Kazakhmys added 35p to £14.00 while Vedanta Resources rose 51p to £21.75. As gold hit another record high, African Barrick Gold added 5.5p to 605.5p.

But 3i lost 4p to 278p as it confirmed a reshuffle of its divisions which will see dealmaker Jonathan Russell leave the group.

Good results from Oracle overnight have lifted technology stocks, with Autonomy up 34p at £18.46 and Arm adding 7.3p to 396.7p. George O'Connor at Panmure Gordon said: