Technology & engineering firm GKN was the biggest riser, with share price increasing by 7.7 per cent to 210.4p as the FTSE 100 continued its rally.

The firm - which produces car parts for the global automobile market - rose after an earlier announced increase in US new car sales.

TUI Travel rose by 7.3 per cent to 230p after earlier reporting underlying pre-tax profits of £337 million, a 4 per cent increase on restated profits of £324 million during 2009.

Peter Long, chief executive of TUI Travel, said the tour operator had made 'good progress' despite the difficult trading environment.

He added, 'The 2010 result was, however, affected by a weaker trading performance in the UK, primarily due to increased winter losses resulting from capacity-led volume reductions in anticipation of lower demand.

'The early summer period was disrupted by a number of factors that increased customer uncertainty, including the volcanic ash related airspace closures.

'We then experienced an improvement in demand later in the Summer period and trading closed out well in all source markets, including the UK.'

B&Q owner kingfisher also saw share price rise, up 7.2 per cent to 254.9p after reporting group sales of £2.7 billion for the third quarter to 30 October.

In what was a good day for the FTSE 100 as confidence returned to the market, there were few big fallers.

Global satellite communications provider Inmarsat saw share price slip by 0.8 per cent to 644.5p, while life insurance consolidation vehicle and Friends Provident owner Resolution dipped slightly by 0.5 per cent to 213.8p.