Banking and pharmaceutical stocks lift market
London shares have enjoyed a better day as pharmaceutical and banking stocks pulled ahead.
By the close of trading, the FTSE 100 Index was up 47.5 points at 5212.1.
The more positive mood came as data showed house prices rose last month.
The CBI's survey of the retail sector also revealed that sales volumes rallied in November after a slowdown in October.
The figures reinforce the view that the Bank of England will keep interest rates on hold at 4% when it meets on Wednesday.
Among the London stocks, pharmaceuticals firms AstraZeneca and GlaxoSmithKline had a particularly good day.
Glaxo was ahead 2%, up 36p at £17.96, while Astra rose 101p to £31.72.
The banking sector gave the market a lift, showing some recovery from yesterday's fall, which was on the back of concerns about the collapse of US energy firm Enron.
HSBC rose 11½p to 844½p while other banks on the rise included Abbey National up 11p at 975p, Lloyds TSB up 5½p at 720p, Barclays up 32p at £21.20 and HBOS rising 8½p at 807p.
Among companies reporting today, Carlton Communications was 5% ahead, up 10p at 225p.
The biggest Footsie risers were Invensys up 8¾p at 112p, British Airways up 15¾p at 207½p, Shire Pharmaceuticals up 31p at 846p and BHP Billiton up 11¾p at 347¾p.
Fallers were Rentokil Initial down 12p at 254p, Daily Mail & General Trust down 30p at 655p, Hays down 7p at 203p and BT down 8p at 268p.
