The FTSE 100 is powering ahead, fuelled yet again by a rising oil price.
US crude shot close to a record high of $128 a barrel earlier this afternoon, prompting Goldman Sachs to raise its forecast for average oil prices for the second half of the year to $141 a barrel from its previous forecast of $107.
Oil giant BP is up 13.5p at 639.5p and Royal Dutch Shell A shares by 53p to £21.12p.
The London Stock Exchange is the top riser in the FTSE 100, surging 91.p, or 8%, after a research note from Sanford Bernstein said that the fall in the LSE share price made the exchange an affordable target for rivals Nasdaq and NYSE Euronext.
