Gains in commodity stocks and banks pushed Britain's top share index into positive territory early on Friday, ending the month on a high note after two days of losses.
By 0900 GMT the FTSE 100 was 28.75 points, or 0.6 percent higher, at 4,898.10 after it closed down 0.4 percent, or 21.23 points, on Thursday.
U.S. stocks closed higher on Thursday as investors turned back an early sell-off, due in part to a rebound in oil prices, helping to foster a broad rally in Asian stocks.
Miners led the rebound as metal prices moved higher. Rio Tinto, Xstrata, Lonmin, Anglo American, Kazakhmys and Fresnillo added 0.5 to 5.2 percent.
Energy stocks were also a strong positive for the index as crude stabilised above $72 per barrel. BP, Royal Dutch Shell, BG Group, Tullow Oil and Cairn Energy added between 0.2 and 2 percent.
"It's a fairly positive start, largely on the back of the move in U.S. stocks last night, with miners and banks leading the way," said Angus Campbell, head of sales at Capital Spreads.
The blue-chip index is up 6.3 percent in August and has rallied 41.5 percent since hitting an all-time low in March.
It is up 10.5 percent so far this year, boosted as confidence grows that the economy is emerging from recession and as corporate earnings improved.
"It is a fairly rosy picture, but September is usually not a good month for equities and we'll have to see how things pan out to the end of the quarter," Campbell added
BANKS BETTER
Banks, which tend to thrive when the broader market is in positive territory, were mostly firmer.
Barclays, Standard Chartered, Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds Banking Group added 2.1 to 4.1 percent, though HSBC fell 0.6 percent.
However, while there is broad optimism that things are improving for the economy, data continues to paint a fairly gloomy picture of the current climate.
British consumer sentiment was unchanged for a third successive month in August and shoppers showed continued caution about the economy, according to a survey by pollsters GfK NOP for the European Commission.
BAE Systems was the heaviest faller on the blue chip index, slipping 3.3 percent, adding to losses in the previous session after the defence giant failed to win a follow-on contract from the U.S. Department of Defense.
Investors were awaiting the second reading of the UK's second-quarter GDP, due at 0830 GMT, with a fall of 0.8 percent expected, unchanged from the first reading, after a 2.4 percent decline in the first quarter.
The annualised GDP decline is also seen unrevised at 5.6 percent, up from 4.9 percent in the previous quarter.
The U.S. Federal Reserve's preferred measure of inflation will be released at 1230 GMT, with July U.S. personal consumption seen up 0.2 percent, after a 0.4 percent increase in June, while personal income was seen up 0.1 percent in July after a 1.3 percent fall in June.
Investors will also have the final reading for the August University of Michigan consumer sentiment index at 1355 GMT, with the figure seen at 64.0 versus 66.0 in July.
