With HBOS back in demand, housebuilders also rising and gains for retailers, the FTSE 100 has racked up some strong gains and shrugged off another dip on Wall Street.
HBOS has ended the day the strongest riser as the news directors had bought up stock in the bank calmed nerves rattled by last week's sharp losses on the back of rumour-spreading.
The home of the Halifax has ended up 70.75p, or 14.9%, at 544.5p. HBOS shares are now down just 59p, or 9.8%, compared with where they started the month.
Traders seem to have come back from the four-day weekend in a more buoyant mood and they have turned their attention away from the more defensive stocks to those that have been hit hardest by recession fears.
So HBOS and other banks were in demand today, as were retailers and housebuilders.
Their gains left the FTSE 100 up 193.9 points, or 3.5%, at 5689.1. UK markets paid little attention to the latest downbeat economic data out of the US while on Wall Street traders remained in selling mode early on with the Dow down by the time London closed, albeit a modest 30 points, or 0.2%, at 12,518.
Still, the UK rise by no means guarantees an ongoing rally this week. A look at recent swings hammers home that point.
Here's how the FTSE 100 moved on each day over the last fortnight: Down 1.2%, up 1.1%, up 1.5%, down 1.5%, down 1.1%, down 3.9%, up 3.5%, down 1.1%, down 0.9% and today up 3.5%.
