Stronger commodity prices lifted heavyweight mining and energy stocks on Wednesday, helping Britain's top share index to gain 1.5 percent in early trade.
By 0738 GMT the FTSE 100 was up 63.93 points at 4,468.72 after closing down 0.43 points on Tuesday at 4,404.76, after a choppy session with volumes only at about 76 percent of the index's average daily volume.
A sense that the outlook for the global economy may be brightening helped lift demand for raw materials and energy stocks added the most points to the index as crude prices cruised beyond $71 per barrel.
BP, Royal Dutch Shell, BG Group, Tullow Oil and Cairn Energy added between 0.7 and 2.3 percent.
"For now investors are choosing to believe that their glass is half full, not half empty and the recovery in share prices is continuing," said Jeremy Batstone-Carr, strategist at Charles Stanley.
The blue-chip index is up 0.8 percent on the year but has gained 29.2 percent since touching a six year low in early March.
"We see a further rise in share prices but things will become harder towards the end of the year as investors come to realise that we are not in a v-shaped recovery."
Miners were also strongly higher as metal prices rose across the board. Rio Tinto, Kazakhmys, Eurasian Natural Resources, Anglo American, Lonmin and BHP Billiton added between 2.7 and 8 percent.
Banks were broadly stronger, supported by a note from JPMorgan which stated it remains overweight investment banks and traditional credit banks.
HSBC, Standard Chartered, Royal Bank of Scotland, Barclays and Lloyds Banking Group added between 1.2 and 3.8 percent.
But Man Group was one of a handful of companies in negative territory, down 0.8 percent after weekly performance figures showed a decline in the value of its flagship hedge fund AHL.
Investors will get more economic data at 0830 GMT to help gauge whether the economy has reached bottom and is starting to pick up.
UK May industrial output is expected to have fallen 0.1 percent on the month but remained at minus 12.4 percent year-on-year.
The decline in UK manufacturing output is seen slightly improved year-on-year at minus 12.8 percent in May, up from minus 12.9 percent in April.
UK April trade balance numbers will also be released at 0830 GMT.
U.S. international trade figures are also due later in the day, but the main U.S. focus will be the latest Fed Beige book, set to be published after the London close.
