Good day for FTSE as 7,000 mark smashed

London’s top index smashed through 7,000 points for the first time in nearly 14 months yesterday as miners and banks led the charge.

Data out of China helped boost markets, with the FTSE 100 ending at 7,019.53, up 36 points.

Across the pond, markets were also in the green, with the S&P 500 up 0.2% and the Dow Jones on track to rise 0.4%. The Dax in Germany rose 1.3%.

The pound rose 0.2% to buy 1.3822 dollars or 1.1537 euros while Brent crude dropped 0.3% to hit $66.74 a barrel.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Evraz, up 22.4p to 636.4p, Tesco, up 7.4p to 231.85p, Next, up 224p to 8204p, British American Tobacco, up 79p to 2901p, and BT, up 5.3p to 199.55p.

The biggest fallers were London Stock Exchange, down 200p to 7700p, Rolls-Royce, down 2.44p to 104.56p, Hikma, down 41p to 2367p, and Barrett Development, down 10.8p to 784p.