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At 09:50 BST the index was 52 points higher at 5,259 points, Citywire reports, with early gains prompted by Wall Street erased by news that gross domestic product (GDP) declined by 0.4 per cent during the quarter.
BSkyB added 11.5p and Lloyds Banking Group edged 3.26p higher, while there were also gains for a number of companies in the mining sector, including a 74p increase in Vedanta Resource's shares - taking them to 2,364p.
Unilever added 32p following favourable press comments and Prudential gained 16.5p before the release of a trading update next week.
Market analyst Nick Serff explained that many investors are opting to "hold on to their long positions".
He added that some have chosen to add to their positions after the FTSE dipped below 5,200 yesterday.
The release of GDP data this morning means that economic growth has now been negative for six consecutive quarters.
