The London market rose despite cautious trading, helped by Dixons Carphone's move to take on America under a joint venture with US telecoms giant Sprint.

The group behind Carphone Warehouse and Currys PC World saw shares rise as much as four per cent at one stage after announcing a deal with Sprint - America's third largest mobile phone group - to open and manage up to 500 Sprint-branded stores.

But the FTSE 100 Index paused for breath after recent highly volatile trading amid the crisis in Greece, with the top tier edging 21.9 points higher to 6630.5 amid caution ahead of Sunday's Greek referendum.

European stock markets bounced back yesterday from recent heavy losses, with the FTSE 100 up 87.6 points on hopes that a bailout deal can still be struck with Greece, but trading was muted today after creditors halted talks on resolving the country's deepening financial crisis until the referendum this weekend.

France's Cac 40 and Germany's Dax were both down by less than one per cent.

There was some welcome economic cheer for the UK, with the latest closely-watched Markit purchasing managers' index (PMI) revealing a post-election bounce for Britain's builders.

The survey recorded a far better-than-expected reading of 58.1 in June.

The pound fell one cent against the euro, at 1.41, as a break in the Greek drama gave the single currency a chance to regroup. Sterling was flat against the US dollar, at 1.56.

Among stocks, BP was the strongest riser on the top flight leaderboard jumping four per cent higher, or 18.3p to 437.4p, after it seemed to draw a line under the Deepwater Horizon explosion and oil spill that killed 11 workers five years ago.

It said it had reached an $18.7 billion (£12bn) legal settlement in the US covering all federal, state and local claims, with payments spread over 18 years. It added the agreement would add around $10bn (£6.4bn) to the $43.8bn (£28.1bn) of charges BP had already set against the disaster.

Dixons Carphone stood 5.7p higher at 464.5p as investors cheered details of the Sprint deal, which will see it launch and manage around 20 Sprint-branded stores initially and if successful, roll out up to 500 stores and pump up to £20.5 million into a 50/50 joint venture.

Broadcaster ITV was in the red after a public service broadcaster review by watchdog Ofcom, which said regulation of so-called re-transmission fees in the UK - the fees some public broadcasters want from pay-television operators to carry their channels - would be "complicated".

Analysts said the finding is a blow to ITV, which has called for the levy. ITV shares fell 3.7p to 263.4p.

Elsewhere, Magners and Bulmers firm C&C came under pressure as it said trading had been weaker-than-expected in its first quarter to May 31 after being hit by cold early summer weather and tough new drink drive rules in Scotland.

Shares in the Irish drinks firm fell three per cent in early trading, but later clawed back lost ground to close 2 cents (1.4p) down at 3.4 euros (242p).

Scandal-hit outsourcing firm Serco was up another five per cent in the FTSE 250 - ahead 5.1p at 130.8p - after a 6.5 per cent hike on Wednesday following a cheery update, which suggested the business was back on the road to recovery after a torrid two years.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 Index were BP up 18.3p at 437.4p, RSA Insurance up 8.2p at 411p, National Grid up 15.8p at 833.5p and SSE up 26p at 1564p.

The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 Index were Ashtead down 42p at 1059p, Intertek down 79p at 2383p, International Airlines Group down 13.3p at 489.2p and Hargreaves Lansdown down 29p at 1140p.