By Rebekah Curtis LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's FTSE 100 index rose early on Monday as higher gold prices and a Goldman Sachs note boosted miners, while British Energy jumped on a newspaper report Centrica and EDF have launched talks to bid for it. British Energy rose 3.4 percent after the Sunday Telegraph said Centrica and French utility EDF were in talks about a possible joint bid worth 10 billion pounds for the nuclear power firm. Centrica and EDF declined to comment, while British Energy was not immediately available. At 0755 GMT The FTSE 100 was up 35 points, 0.6 percent at 5,982.1 as shares rose across Europe. "Fingers crossed the outlook has changed, and we've moved away from the panic that's really gripped the markets to a greater degree of confidence that most of the global economy will be able to avoid a recession," said Neil Parker, a strategist at Royal Bank of Scotland. On the economic agenda, investors look ahead to the Bank of England's interest rate verdict on Thursday. The central bank will likely cut borrowing costs by 25 basis points to 5 percent in an attempt to head off further economic and financial turmoil and prevent a UK recession, a Reuters poll showed on Thursday. "It looks highly likely that we will get a rate reduction," Parker added. Asian shares rose overnight, while U.S. stocks were little changed on Friday as nagging fears about more bank losses and the biggest monthly decline in the job market in five years overshadowed earlier optimism that the credit crisis may be easing. MINERS SURGE Miners all rose and together added more than 17 points to the index's upside. Anglo American added 3.4 percent, helped by Goldman Sachs' addition of the miner to its "conviction buy" list. Xstrata rose 2.2 percent after Goldman raised its price target. Vedanta Resources also added 2.2 percent after the bank raised its price target and upgraded the stock to "buy" from "neutral". Friends Provident added more than 3 percent after the Sunday Times said U.S. buyout firm J.C. Flowers is working on a sweetened bid worth around 3.5 billion pounds for the British insurer. British recruitment firm Michael Page International fell 5.7 percent after results. The firm said UK and Tokyo operations had been affected by further weakening of the banking sector, which was also hitting areas that service banking clients. But it also reported record first-quarter gross profit up 33 percent at 140.3 million pounds. | 
