The exporter-heavy FTSE 100 index hit a two-week high on Tuesday, following an extended weekend as miners rose on optimism over fresh policy support from top consumer China, while Bunzl advanced on upbeat annual profit outlook, reports Reuters.
The blue-chip index surged 1.2 per cent, while the FTSE 250 rose 1.3 per cent. Both the indexes were on track for their biggest intraday gain in more than a month.
The London Stock Exchange was closed on Monday due to a summer bank holiday.
The FTSE 100 outpaced its regional peers, with the broader pan-European STOXX 600 up 0.4 per cent.
Industrial metal miners tracked metal prices to gain 1.6 per cent, cheered by policy support from China.
Beijing said in a statement on Sunday it was halving stamp duty on stock trades along with a series of other measures, including loosened margin loan rules and slowing the pace on initial public offerings (IPOs), in the latest attempt to boost market confidence in the world's second-largest economy.
"It's news from China that's really helped drive the index higher," said Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets, Hargreaves Lansdown.
"Miners have been on the front foot today partly because of hopes that relief for the Chinese economy will improve demand for the metals and minerals."
All the sub-indexes were in the green by 0814 GMT.
Shares of Bunzl climbed more than 3 per cent after the British business supplies distributor hiked its annual adjusted operating profit forecast.
Bunzl's stock was the biggest gainer in the benchmark index, helping a rally in general industrials shares that rose 2.7 per cent, leading sectoral gains.
