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The announcement that the Bank of England will pump £75 billion into the economy and the European Central Bank's unveiling of new measures to improve liquidity in the financial system may have contributed to the advance.
Investors who know how to trade may also have been influenced by the announcement by the two banks that interest rates will remain at their current levels.
Among the companies to perform particularly well on the index yesterday were financial institutions, such as Prudential, which gained almost 12 per cent.
Standard Chartered and Lloyds Banking Group also advanced, rising nearly nine per cent.
It was a day of gains around the world as the S&P 500, the Nikkei 225, the Dow Jones and the MSCI Asia Pacific Index all rose.
Posted by Clive Arneil
