The FTSE 100 extended gains to 72.5 points (1.25 percent), reaching 5,996 by mid afternoon. The FTSE 250 rose 109 points (0.9 percent) to 11,996 and the FTSE AIM 100 index added 26 points (0.65 percent), stopping just one point short of 4,000.
Investec (LON:INVP) led the blue chips, rallying 6.5 percent. ITV (LON:ITV) added 5 percent and insurance focused investor Resolution (LON:RSL) climbed 4 percent.
Engineering and IT firm Invensys (LON:ISYS) was the heaviest faller in the FTSE 100, sliding 3.5 percent. Safety and quality services company Intertek (LON:ITRK) and software developer Autonomy Corporation (LON:AU) declined 2.3 percent and 1.7 percent respectively.
Oil & gas
BP (LON:BP) rallied 2 percent. Fellow supermajor Royal Dutch Shell (LON:RDSB) posted a small gain. BG Group (LON:BG) and Cairn Energy (LON:CNE) advanced 2.3 percent and 1.2 percent respectively.
Midcaps weren’t very active today. Premier Oil (LON:PMO) and Salamander Energy (LON:SMDR) shed 1.7 percent and 1 percent respectively.
US focused small cap Caza Oil & Gas (LON:CAZA) was among the top performers in the sector, climbing 8 percent.
Mining
Precious metals
Randgold Resources (LON:RRS) eased 1 percent, while other sector majors Fresnillo (LON:FRES) and Lonmin (LON:LMI) added 1 percent and 1.5 percent respectively.
In the FTSE 250, Aquarius Platinum (LON:AQP) surged 2.4 percent, Hochschild Minng (LON:HOC) gained 1.6 percent and African Barrick Gold (LON:ABG) tacked on 1.2 percent. Petropavlovsk (LON:POG) declined 1 percent.
Gold and copper explorer operating in Kazakhstan Frontier Mining (LON:FML) rallied 12.5 percent. Emerging oil & gas exploration & production company Clontarf Energy (LON:CLON) also did well, rising 7.5 percent.
Base metal focused miners did well. Anglo American (LON:AAL), Antofagasta (LON:ANTO), BHP Billiton (LON:BLT) and Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) tacked on about 1 percent, as did midcap Ferrexpo (LON:FXPO).
Other notable risers among the small caps included Churchill Mining (LON:CHL) and Thor Mining (LON:THR), which added 12 percent. Regency Mines (LON:RGM) advanced 9.5 percent.
Banks, insurance, private equity
Banking stocks were in demand today. Barclays (LON:BARC) led the pack, surging 3.7 percent. Standard Chartered (LON:STAN) gained nearly 2 percent, while Royal Bank of Scotland (LON:RBS) and HSBC (LON:HSBA) added just over 1 percent.
Prudential (LON:PRU) and Legal & General (LON:LGEN) led the insurers, rising 2.3 percent. RSA Insurance Group (LON:RSA) advanced 1.6 percent.