And in LONDON on Friday -(MarketWatch) -- Miners supported...

And in LONDON on Friday -(MarketWatch) -- Miners supported London share trading Friday as copper prices surged, with few signs of a sector slowdown amid strong worldwide demand. BHP Billiton (BHP: news, chart, profile) (UK:BLT: news, chart, profile) closed up 2.1% to 806.50 pence and Anglo-Australian miner Rio Tinto (RTP: news, chart, profile) (UK:RIO: news, chart, profile) rose 0.7% Paul Cliff, an analyst at Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, said mining stocks have performed strongly since April after data showed no slowing of economic growth in China, but instead pointed towards a reacceleration. BHP shares are up 30% and Rio shares have risen 23% since the start of the year. He also noted signs around April that data had bottomed out from countries within the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development. "We think the risk is on the upside for consensus earnings forecasts in the sector, and valuations are still too low," Cliff said. Dresdner believes that there is still around 20% upside for BHP Billiton, with a price target of 10 pounds. Cliff said BHP was the broker's best pick in the sector, followed by Xstata and Rio.