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According to Reuters, the index was 0.6 per cent higher by 12:12 GMT following a surge in banking stocks, taking it to 5,199.13 points.
Barclays was up 7.4 per cent after it posted a full-year profit of £11.6 billion, while there were gains of as much as 4.7 per cent for Standard Chartered, Lloyds Banking Group and HSBC.
Elsewhere on the index, the commodities sector was also stronger, buoyed by what Joshua Raymond of City Index described as a "weaker dollar and increased appetite for risk".
Among the companies to gain in this area were mining firms BHP Billiton and Anglo American, along with oil giants Royal Dutch Shell and BP.
Mr Raymond added that the strength of financial stocks could be an indication that UK banks "may buck the trend set by US banks earlier in the year by reporting a solid set of yearly figures".
Posted by Clive Arneil
