The FTSE 100 Index closed up 78.9 points at 6,490.7 today, a gain of more than 1%, having notched up its 10th month in a row of gains in March as it remained resilient in the face of recent fears over Cyprus.
Blue-chip firms continued to shake off concerns about the eurozone’s battered economy, with markets worldwide also enjoying a robust start to the second quarter.
Speculation over a potential £161billion bid for Vodafone helped propel the mobile phone giant higher in buoyant City trading.
Vodafone was one of the biggest risers in the top tier, closing up nearly 3%, or 5.4p at £1.92 on talk that its US partner Verizon and AT&T are working on a deal for the UK group in what would mark the biggest takeover on record.
It helped the market shrug off more economic gloom as the latest report on the state of UK manufacturing suggested the sector contracted overall in the first quarter, while Bank of England data revealed mortgage approvals slipped to a five-month low in February.
Budget airline EasyJet topped the Footsie risers’ board, gaining 4.4% before an update on trading on Friday. Shares in the carrier, a recent addition to the blue chip index, rose 48p to £11.28.
Also making big gains were Rexam 20p ahead at 547.5p, Croda International up 98p at £28.41 and Admiral up 42p at £13.64.
The Footsie’s biggest fallers were Eurasian Natural Resources down 10.8p at 235.3p, Evraz off 5.5p at 216.5p, Antofagasta 17.5p lower at 966.5p and Randgold Resources down 90p at £55.90.
In the FTSE 250, Aberdeen-based transport giant FirstGroup raced more than 7%, or 15p higher to 216.1p after a broker upgrade from Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
Stuart Lamont, of investment manager and financial planning specialist Brewin Dolphin in Aberdeen, noted Royal Bank of Scotland 3% higher at 283.7p and Amec adding 2.5% to £10.82.
Faroe Petroleum was off 4.6% at £1.41, EnQuest eased 1% to 142.2p and Weir Group fell 0.5% to £22.52.