Global markets surged today as the closure China's stock markets for the country's Victoy Day Celebrations momentarily eased volatility concerns.
Craig Erlam at foreign exchange broker Oanda said: “China has largely been blamed for causing so much volatility and negativity in financial markets in recent weeks so it should be no surprise that, as its markets close in observance of Victory Day, markets in Europe and the US are staging a recovery.”
In Europe, the Paris-based Cac40 gained 2.85% to 4,684 while the Frankfurt-based Dax jumped 3.1% to 10,362.
In the UK, the FTSE 100 gained 110 points, 1.8% to 6,194. It’s the biggest one day gain in a week as the European Central Bank (ECB) left interest rates unchanged on Thursday at record lows.
In his conference, ECB president Mario Draghi claimed the ECB did not discuss extending quantitative easing today, but emphasised the central bank’s “willingness and ability to act, if warranted.”
Metals rallied after Rio Tinto (LON:RIO), up 3.29% to 2,341p, forecasted higher iron ore demand, and just in relief that there was no negative data or falling stocks from China.
Miners took the opportunity to make some gains, with Glencore (LON:GLEN) at the top of the pile, gaining 6.64% to 131p.
Anglo American (LON:AAL), up 6% to 725p, and Fresnillo (LON:FRES) 3.93% higher to 622p were also among the biggest risers on the FTSE 100.
On the corporate front, EasyJet (LON:EZJ) soared 93p to 1,765p after the budget carrier increased its profit forecast following a record August.
Takeover talk buoyed the London market on Thursday as rumours did the rounds about a possible bid for Morrisons (LON:MRW).
The supermarket's shares rose 7.7p, or 4.7%, to 170.8p on reports that South African billionaire Christo Wiese may be looking to add to his UK acquisitions of retailer New Look and gym group Virgin Active.
Away from the index, rumours in the city suggest the board of bwin.party (LON:BPTY) met at some point today to discuss which of the rival bids it will accept.
GVC and 888 Holdings are have both made bids for the company, which saw shares gain 0.2p to 115.2p.
Bus and train operator Go-Ahead (LON:GOG) backtracked 156p to 2,379p after it warned of a year-long delay in hitting bus profit targets.
In small caps, African Potash (LON:AFPO) unveiled its third supply agreement on the continent in a matter of days.
The fertiliser specialist signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with a Zimbabwe company to supply 150,000 metric tonnes of fertiliser annually. Shares rose 10.27% to 2.34p.
Elsewhere, recruitment firm Empresaria (LON:EMR) said it expects to beat market estimates this year after revealing a strong first half.
Profits jumped 35% to £2.7mln or by 44% on a constant currency basis over the six months to June, with permanent sales accounting for 47% of total sales, up from 40% in 2014. Shares jumped 13.86% to 82p.