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Gains in the commodity sector have been largely responsible for the increase on the benchmark index, while strong quarterly earnings from Google and IBM in the US have also buoyed the market, Reuters reports
At 09:26 BST the FTSE 100 was up 33.89 points at 5,256.84, with news that oil prices have reached a 12-month high pushing Cairn Energy Tullow Oil, BG Group, Royal Dutch Shell and BP up by as much as 2.8 per cent.
In the mining sector, there was a one per cent increase for BHP Billiton after it was announced it is attempting to take over Australian company United Minerals.
And increases were also seen in the share prices of Anglo American, Fresnillo, Lonmin, Rio Tinto and Xstrata, prompting market strategist Nick Serff to note: "The mining sector has received some attention in early trade after yesterday's falls."
