With relief over the Spanish bank bailout sending markets surging, banks and miners are leading the way.
Lloyds Banking Group is heading the FTSE 100 risers, up 1.8p to 29.81p, closely followed by Royal Bank of Scotland, rising 11p to 234p. Barclays is 8.45p better at 198.8p, on hopes the €100bn lifeline from the eurozone to Spain's banks will give the country some breathing space.
But there are still a number of unanswered questions, not least where exactly the money will come from. And with Greece's latest election at the weekend, there are still many uncertainties ahead in the crisis.
For the moment, however, investors are inclined to view the latest events positively, with the FTSE 100 now up 75.21 points at 5510.29.
With metal prices receiving a boost from strong import figures from commodity consumer China, mining shares are also in demand. Vedanta Resources has risen 43.5p to 979p while Kazakhmys has climbed 22.5p to 727.5p.
But investors are deserting the safer stocks, with Imperial Tobacco down 4p at £23.73 and United Utilities off 1p to 679.5p.
