FTSE rises towards five-week high, miners rally

* Blue-chip FTSE 100 index up 0.4 percent

* Miners rally as China data raise stimulus hopes

* Cairn Energy (LSE: CNE.L - news) surges, Serco slumps

By Atul Prakash

LONDON, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Britain's top share index advanced towards a five-week high on Monday, with miners rising on hopes that mixed data from China, the world's biggest metals consumer, may prompt the country to launch more stimulus.

China's annual consumer inflation remained near a five-year low in October at 1.6 percent and annual growth in exports and imports slowed in October, reinforcing expectations the economy will roll out more measures to support growth.

"Good news for policymakers is that inflation in China continues to be low, giving policymakers plenty of room to manoeuvre and stimulate the economy," said Henk Potts, director of global research at Barclays (LSE: BARC.L - news) .

"They have already been doing that by fast-tracking infrastructure projects and injecting liquidity into the banking system. If they are to try and hit the growth target for the full year, then they would need to increase their level of stimulus."

The UK mining index rose 1.5 percent, the biggest sectoral gainer, helped by a 1.2 to 2.3 percent rise in Rio Tinto (Xetra: 855018 - news) , BHP Billiton (NYSE: BBL - news) , Antofagasta (LSE: ANTO.L - news) and Anglo American (LSE: AAL.L - news) .

"Inflation at 1.6 percent and slowing growth in China could be seen in a positive light for miners due to the scope of the authorities being able to implement further monetary support for the economy, which should help buoy mining stocks," said Mike Jarman, chief market strategist at H2O Markets.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 rose 0.4 percent to 6,594.21 points by 0914 GMT to hover below Friday's five-week high. The index, however, is down 2.3 percent so far this year.

Among other sharp movers, mid-cap oil explorer Cairn Energy rose 8 percent after saying it had made a second oil discovery off the coast of Senegal bearing similar characteristics to a nearby oil find the British-based company made last month.

On the other hand, mid-cap services outsourcer Serco tumbled 30 percent after saying it planned to raise up to 550 million pounds ($874.5 million) through a rights issue after cutting its 2014 and 2015 forecast and writing down the value of its business by 1.5 billion pounds. (Reporting by Atul Prakash; Editing by Hugh Lawson)