THE London market followed Wall Street higher yesterday in a volatile session after a rally on US shares lifted sentiment.
The FTSE 100 Index finished 17.7 points higher at 6736.2, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average jumping more than 200 points in early trading.
Wall Street cheered as Warren Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway investment group said it would buy the maker of industrial components Precision Castparts for $32 billion (£25.6bn).
The market was also buoyed after Greece laid out the hope that talks with creditors over its €86bn (£61bn) bail-out might be concluded this week, earlier than expected.
Signs of progress towards resolving the saga of debt-laden Greece helped lift France's Cac 40 and Germany's Dax.
Earlier in the session the top-flight had headed lower as weak economic data from China weighed on mining stocks while banks were under pressure over latest fears over the bills they face over customer mis-selling scandals.
On currency markets, sterling rose slightly against the US dollar at 1.55 after previously falling on Friday against the greenback as healthy US jobs data added to expectations of an interest rate hike from the US Federal Reserve.
The pound was also slightly higher against the euro at 1.41.
In London shares, miners were initially hit by figures from China showing an unexpectedly sharp drop in trade in the world's second biggest economy – pointing to weak demand both at home and abroad – but recovered later in the session.
Rio Tinto was the highest riser on the topflight leaderboard up almost 2 per cent, or 47.5p to 2635p, while BHP Billiton rose 18p to 1209p and Antofagasta climbed 4.5p to 594p.
Banks were under pressure after reports that billions of pounds more might be added to their bills for compensating customers who were mis-sold payment protection insurance (PPI), for failing to disclose commission payments they received.
Lloyds Banking Group, whose own PPI bill has now topped £13bn, fell one per cent, or 0.8p, to 81.3p. Royal Bank of Scotland – also backed by the taxpayer – fell 1.6p to 343.9p. HSBC dropped 3.6p to 584.1p, although Barclays rose 1.4p to 282.6p.
Elsewhere, Carphone Warehouse owner Dixons Carphone was down earlier in the session after it revealed the personal details of up to 2.4 million people may have been stolen when a division of the mobile phone business was hit by a cyber attack. But Shares lifted 1.7p, to 457.7p.
Meanwhile, Sheilas' Wheels owner esure was the big faller on the FTSE 250 Index, down 11 per cent after it said it was planning to drive up premiums after half-year profits in its motor insurance underwriting business fell by four-fifths.
Underlying pre-tax profits across the group, which also owns price comparison website Gocompare, fell 21 per cent to £46.5 million. Shares slid 25.5p to 240p.
The biggest risers in the FTSE 100 Index were Rio Tinto up 47.5p to 2635p, Fresnillo up 11.5p at 649.5p, Inmarsat up 16p at 967.5p and BHP Billiton up 18p at 1209p.
The biggest fallers in the FTSE 100 Index were Prudential down 22p at 1506.5p, Tesco down 3.05p at 212.8p, Sainsbury's down 3.3p at 264.4p and G4S down 2.8p at 269.6p.
