FTSE rallies on brighter economic outlook

London's leading shares rallied on Thursday mirroring overnight gains on Wall Street, sweeping higher on enthusiasm over the brighter global economic outlook, dealers said.

The FTSE 100 index of leading shares gained 1.16 percent at 5,211.18 points.

The day's best performing security was Petrofac which added 59 pence -- or 5.18 percent -- to end on 1,199.

Software firm Arm Holdings was the day's second-best performer, adding 11.2 pence -- or 4.98 percent -- to finish at 267.9.

Gold miner Randgold was the session's biggest faller, losing 155 pence -- or 2.53 percent -- to close at 5,975, followed by minerals company BHP Hilton, which shed 16.5 pence -- or 0.89 percent -- to end at 1,839.5.

Lloyds Banking Group (LBG) was the most traded stock, seeing 334 million shares change hands, followed by oil giant BP, which saw 114 million units switch owners.

Meanwhile, the pound fell against the dollar while it climbed slightly against the euro.

At 17:07, the pound was trading at $1.462, down from $1.465 at the same time on Wednesday, while sterling was valued at 1.199 euros, up from 1.196 over the same period.