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At 09:02 BST the index was up 0.36 points to 5,019.21, Reuters reports.
The climb was largely due to increases in financial stocks, as Royal Bank of Scotland, Barclays, HSBC and Lloyds Banking Group all climbed by up to 1.2 per cent.
An upgrade from Credit Suisse saw BT's shares rise, while mining companies - such as Fresnillo, Xstrata, Kazakhmys, Lonmin and Rio Tinto - also gained.
However, there were falls for oil firms Tullow Oil, Royal Dutch Shell and BP, as well as drug manufacturers GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca.
Market specialist Joshua Raymond explained that the release of US retail sales figures is likely to result in an increase in trading.
He remarked: "If we see an upsurge in US retail sales we could see investors return to the markets quickly and positively."
