The FTSE 100 advanced 0.9% in the morning, rising back above 6,000.
Gold producer Randgold Resources (LON:RRS) and chipmaker ARM Holdings (LON:ARM) were the top performers in the FTSE 100 with gains of 3.3%.
Randgold today reported that its 2010 profits soared 43% year on year to US$120.6 million on the back of a stronger Q4 performance, which drove up attributable production by 30% to 132 099 ounces quarter on quarter.
Mining major Xstrata (LON:XTA) and packaging group Rexam (LON:REX) followed with gains of nearly 3%.
Mail on Sunday reported yesterday that Rexam had appointed Barclays Capital to sell its lids manufacturing unit for £200 million.
Publisher Reed Elsevier (LON:REL) and oil and gas producer Cairn Energy (LON:CNE) added 2.5%.
No FTSE 100 constituent lost 1% or more this morning.
Elsewhere in Europe, France’s CAC 40 surged 1.15%, Spain’s IBEX 35 advanced 0.9% and Germany’s DAX climbed 1%.
Futures for the main US stock market indexes rose this morning, pointing to a higher start on Wall Street.
The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) is expected to climb 0.45% in early trade, while futures for the S&P 500 and NASDAQ 100 indexes climbed 0.35%.
US stocks were on the rise last week with the DJIA and S&P 500 reaching two year highs, boosted by positive US economic data.
On Thursday, the Labor Department said that initial jobless claims in the US dropped 42,000.
It was also reported that US factory orders climbed 0.2% in December and the Institute of Supply Management non-manufacturing index reached the highest level ever at 59.4% in January.
Friday’s employment report from the Labor Department was mixed, revealing that 36,000 new jobs were added in January, which was below expectations, while the unemployment rate dropped from 9.4% to 9%.
Asian stocks moved higher today. Japan’s Nikkei 225 and South Korea’s KOSPI added 0.45%.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 tacked on 0.1%.