Barclays (LON:BARC) led the blue chips with a 5% gain. Sector peers Lloyds (LON:LLOY) and Royal Bank of Scotland (LON:RBS) followed, rising 2.5% and 2.2% respectively.
Chipmaker ARM Holdings (LON:ARM) was the heaviest faller with a 4% loss.
Mining majors Frensillo (LON:FRES) and Xstrata (LON:XTA) eased 2.8% and 2.7% respectively.
Oil & gas
Oil and gas supermajors BP (LON:BP) and Shell (LON:RDSB) advanced 1% and 1.5% respectively.
Cairn Energy (LON:CNE) added 1.3% and Tullow Oil (LON:TLWE) tacked on 1%.
BG Group (LON:BG) posted a small gain.
Engineering firm Petrofac (LON:PFC) declined marginally and peer Amec (LON:AMEC) was little moved.
Heritage Oil (LON:HOIL) was the heaviest faller among the midcaps with a 4.2% loss.
Salamander Energy (LON:SMDR) dropped 1%.
Melrose Resources (LON:MRS) and Premier Oil (LON:PMO) did better, posting small gains.
JKX Oil & gas (LON:JKX) and Soco International (LON:SIA) held steady.
Service company Wood Group (LON:WG) dipped 3%.
Mining
Precious metals
Gold producers African Barrick Gold (LON:ABG) and Randgold Resources (LON:RRS) declined marginally, as did platinum Lonmin (LON:LMI).
Silver miner Fresnillo (LON:FRES) retreated 2.8%.
In the FTSE 250, Petropavlovsk (LON:POG) and Aquarius Platinum (LON:AQP) lost 2.2% and 1.5% respectively.
Hochschild Mining (LON:HOC) outperformed the sector, rallying 3%.
Gold developer and producer with assets in West Africa Cluff Gold (LON:CLF) was among the top risers in the sector with a 6% gain.
Base metals
Antofagasta (LON:ANTO) added 1.3%, while most other base metal miners declined.
Xstrata (LON:XTA) was at the bottom of the pile with a 2.7% loss.
Rio Tinto (LON:RIO) dipped 2.6%.
Anglo American (LON:AAL) and BHP Billiton (LON:BLT) shed just over 2%.
Eurasian Natural Resources (LON:ENRC) lost 1.8%.
Vedanta Resources (LON:VED) held steady.
Midcaps Ferrexpo (LON:FXPO) and Kenmare Resources (LON:KMR) did better, keeping their losses to less than 1%.
Mozambique operating tantalum miner Noventa (LON:NVTA) led the juniors, climbing 11%.
South Africa coal developer Strategic Natural Resources (LON:SNRP) and gold and base metal explorer Thor Mining (LON:THR) followed, climbing 9% and 6% respectively.
Banks, insurance, private equity
Barclays (LON:BARC) led the banks with a 5% rally.
Part-nationalised banks Lloyds (LON:LLOY) and Royal Bank of Scotland (LON:RBS) advanced 2.5% and 2.2% respectively.
Standard Chartered (LON:STAN) rose marginally and HSBC (LON:HSBA) posted a small loss.
Aviva (LON:AV) was the top performing insurer with a 1.5% gain.
Admiral Group (LON:ADM) rose marginally.
Legal & General (LON:LGEN) and RSA Insurance Group (LON:RSA) moved in the opposite direction, shedding 1.4% and 1.2% respectively.
Prudential (LON:PRU) and Standard Life (LON:SL) were sitting just below the opening levels.
Old Mutual (LON:OML) held steady.
Small cap movers
Other notable risers among the small caps included biotech junior Silence Therapeutics (LON:SLN) and drug discovery and development company e-Therapeutics (LON:ETX), which rallied 13% and 10% respectively.
Biopharmaceutical product company Renovo Group (LON:RNVO) advanced 6.5%.