Also on the upside, interdealer broker ICAP rallied 9.7p at 303.7p following its fall from grace Friday after a profit warning.

Oil producers rallied as crude headed over the $71.50 a barrel level, with Shell gaining 24.5p at 1,680p and BP up 3p at 563p.

Explorer Tullow Oil edged up a penny at 1,158p, on confirmation that ENI International has terminated its agreement with Heritage in Uganda after Tullow's exercise of a pre-emption right, making progress on a deal appear easier.

Power companies were buoyant, with International Power jumping 6.7p at 320.6p in reaction to weekend press reports that GDF Suez may make an improved offer. Centrica was up 2.6p at 266.5p and National Grid 2.5p higher at 629p.

London Stock Exchange ticked up 9.5p at 640p after reporting the average daily value traded across its equity markets in January increased 14% year-on-year to £7.1bn.

Household goods conglomerates Unilever and Reckitt Benckiser made strides higher, up 26p at 1,844p and 24p at 3,154p, respectively.

Cigarette makers were to the fore with BAT ahead 48p at 2,102p and Imperial Tobacco 35p higher at 2,061p.

The drinks industry was also well represented on the leaderboard, with Diageo gaining 10p at 1,010p and SABMiller 49p better at 1,699p.

After a promising start, financial issues became a burden, with insurers prevalent on the losers list and Legal & General the worst of them, down 2.6p at 71.05p. Prudential slipped 14p at 560.5p, Standard Life lost 1.1p at 193.1p and Aviva slid 9.4p at 355.7p.

Among the banks, Lloyds was the weakest link, off 1.11p at 47.2p, while Royal Bank of Scotland edged down 0.12p at 32.75p after announcing completion of the ABN AMRO legal demerger in the Netherlands. Barclays lost 1p at 268p and Standard Chartered dipped 2.5p at 1,403p.