China boost for FTSE miners London-listed miners and metals producers were among the top gainers on Friday after second-quarter growth data from China met forecasts, while media groups rallied on hopes for a pick up in advertising revenues. Vedanta Resources was 2.2 per cent higher at 902.4p, while Kazakhmys added 2 per cent to 720p. Although China's growth slowed to an annual 7.6 per cent in the second quarter, its slowest rate since early 2009, it was in line with forecasts, and a pick-up in investment drove hopes of stronger growth to come. "The Chinese data had been tipped to disappoint and the downside had arguably been priced in already, so the mining stocks are shining presumably by account of the number not having been worse than expected," said Mike McCudden at Interactive Investor. ITV, the commercial television broadcaster, was the top gainer on the FTSE 100, however, as the £3.16bn deal for Japanese advertising group Dentsu to buy British rival Aegis continued to resonate. Shares in ITV climbed 4.7 per cent to 75.65p, while publisher Reed Elsevier gained 2 per cent to 528p. Mid-cap publisher United Business Media added 4 per cent to 612.4p. This left the FTSE 100 up by 39 points to 5,647.22 by mid morning, a gain of 0.7 per cent. Lloyds Banking Group climbed 1.1 per cent to 30½p, even after the price tag for its sale of 630 branches to the Co-operative Group looked likely to be struck at a deep discount to the expected £1.5bn. "This will finally remove one investment uncertainty for Lloyds Banking Group and provide clarity in valuing the core retail operations," said Mike Trippitt at Oriel Securities. The battle for Cove Energy moved closer to a resolution after the UK Takeover Panel gave Royal Dutch Shell and Thailand's PTT Exploration & Production until July 16 to revise their offers or settle the bid at auction. PTT recently trumped Shell's 220p-a-share offer with a bid of 240p a share, valuing Cove at £1.2bn. However, Cove's shares have moved well beyond both offers and was trading 1 per cent higher at 276.8p on Friday. Shares in Shell were up 0.4 per cent to £22.11.