What happened yesterday?
London stocks finished up on Wednesday, with gains led by housebuilders in the wake of an upbeat survey from Nationwide.
The FTSE 100 ended the session up 1.35% at 5,940.95, and the FTSE 250 was also up, by 0.57% at 17,704.42. Sterling had a mixed day, falling 0.5% against the dollar to $1.33, but gaining 0.16% on the euro to €1.13.
Despite weaker than expected payroll data in the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the day up 1.59% at 29,100.50, the S&P 500 was up by 1.54% at 3,580.84, and the Nasdaq Composite rose 0.98% at 12,056.44.
In company news:
In the UK, housebuilders were the main winners of the day, led by Redrow, which was up 7.29%, alongside increases for Taylor Wimpey (+7.14%), Persimmon (+5.64%), Bellway (+5.45%), Berkeley (+4.69%) and Barratt Developments (+1.27%).
In other significant movements, Computacenter rose by 11.61% as it said its annual results were likely to be materially better than previous expectations.