Britain's top share index gained 0.5 percent in early deals on Thursday fueled by strength in miners and energy issues after results from Royal Dutch Shell, with investors digesting a slew of blue chip numbers.
By 0759 GMT, the FTSE 100 was 21.80 points firmer at 4,569.33 having closed 18.69 points or 0.4 percent higher on Wednesday, resuming its advance after snapping a two-week winning streak on Tuesday.
The index has gained over 31 percent since hitting a six-year low in March, but is still down 2.6 percent this year.
"Better than expected figures from Shell, BT and a small rise in mining stocks are helping to push the FTSE higher again this morning," said Arifa Sheikh-Usmani, an equity trader at spread betters, Spreadex.
"The index is proving to be very resilient at the moment, despite low volumes, and often weak economic data. Most market commentators are not sure why the FTSE is on such a relentless rally but the bears are getting stopped out at the moment as the momentum continues," Sheikh-Usmani said.
Following on from BP on Tuesday and BG Group on Wednesday, Royal Dutch Shell's results gave some good news on cost-cutting as it posted a 70 percent fall in its second quarter net profit, as oil prices and refining margins tumbled.
"Blow-out numbers considering the environment. This is a big positive for Shell, it looks like the gas and power division is very good versus expectations," said Jason Kenney at ING.
Royal Dutch shares gained 0.4 percent, while BP and BG took on 0.2 and 0.3 percent, respectively, although gains were slightly muted as crude prices stayed largely unchanged.
Miners provided the biggest prop for the FTSE 100 early on as copper prices rose slightly after a sell-off on Wednesday, with Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton, Xstrata, and Antofagasta adding 1.3 to 2.7 percent.
Platinum miner Lonmin was a strong performer, up 3.6 percent as Citigroup raised its rating to "buy" from "hold"..
Kazakh miner Kazakhmys rose 1.7 percent after it posted a 8 percent rise in first-half copper cathode output and said although second-half output would be lower the company was on track to meet its full year target.
Randgold Resources rallied 2 percent higher after saying its offering of 5 million shares had been priced at 3,635 pence per ordinary share and $59.50 per ADS.
BT Group was the top FTSE 100 gainer, up 13.1 percent as the telecom carrier posted a better-than-expected 3 percent fall in first-quarter adjusted core earnings and said it was on track to deliver cost reductions after a "solid" start to the year. In reaction Cazenove raised its rating for BT to "in-line" from "underperform". Defence blue chip Rolls-Royce also benefitted from better-than-expected results, adding 5.4 percent as the firm posted a 9 percent rise in underlying first-half pretax profit and said it was on track to meet its full-year goals.
But fellow defence group BAE Systems fell after its results, with news that the firm's pension deficit had risen by 1 billion pounds to 3.1 billion pounds by the end of June offsetting an in-line sharp rise in first-half earnings and a bullish outlook statement.
Reed Elsevier was the biggest blue chip faller, dropping 15.5 percent as the Anglo-Dutch publisher accompanied first-half results with plans to raise equity of up to 9.9 percent in a placing to reduce its net debt.
UK house prices rose for a third month running in July, the Nationwide Building Society said on Thursday, providing further evidence that property prices may have stabilised despite low turnover.
