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At 09:03 BST, the benchmark index was one per cent - or 46.23 points - higher at 4,897.12, led by gains among a number of companies in the mining sector, Reuters reports.
Vedanta Resources, Rio Tinto, Lonmin. Anglo American, Fresnillo and Xstrata jumped by as much as 5.1 per cent in the morning session, while oil companies - including BP, Royal Dutch Shell, BG Group and Cairn Energy - were also higher as oil prices remained constant at $74 (£44) per barrel.
Despite falls among a number of defensive stocks - including pharmaceutical businesses GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca - the financial sector helped keep the FTSE heading higher, as Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds Banking Group and Barclays all recorded gains.
"The miners and financials are again leading the charge higher today," market strategist Joshua Raymond explained, adding that trading on the FTSE has began "in much the same fashion as last week".
