Miners keep the blue-chips in positive territory The blue-chips held on to their gains today and rose for a fourth consecutive day, led by mining shares that were lifted by data from China. Kazakhmys was the best-performing FSTE 100 stock with an increase of 2.9pc, and Evraz added 2.6pc while Eurasian Natural Resources Corporation rose 2.2pc. Chinese gross domestic product was in line with expectations, and showed the nation's growth slowed to 7.4pc in the third-quarter. However, figures for retail sales and industrial production exceeded forecasts. Meanwhile, a European Union summit, which starts today, also ensured that the debt crisis remained firmly in focus. The FTSE 100 has rallied this week on hopes that Spain is moving closer to a bailout, and this morning the benchmark index crept up seven points. The mid-cap FTSE 250 advanced 25 points Among the second-liners, fund manager Man Group was the stand-out faller with a drop of 7.4pc. The company said clients took a net $2.2bn out of its funds in the three months to the end of September, the fifth quarter in a row of net withdrawals. We continue to attract high quality talent from the industry to bolster existing investment teams and to launch new product lines. We remain on track to deliver the cost savings announced in [the first-half]." said chief executive Peter Clarke. However, Espirito Santo did not think Man's share price would rally soon. "It is positive to see the company taking a more realistic view of its cost base, but while flows remain subdued we see little to drive the share price," the broker said. At the other end of the FTSE 250, Go-Ahead Group climbed 5.7pc after reporting that "strong trading has continued into the first quarter of the year."