European markets regained some of their poise after a difficult week in which geopolitical and eurozone worries have dominated trading.
The mood improved after European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi reassured markets by insisting the region's monetary policy will remain accommodative for a long period.
The FTSE 100 Index, which had slumped by nearly 100 points or 1.4 per cent on Tuesday, rose 30.2 points to 6706.3.
The market climbed despite geopolitical fears after bombing raids in Syria, and gloomy sentiment this week at the start of a US crackdown on the use of foreign takeovers in order to lower tax bills.
The pound fell slightly against the dollar, at 1.64, ahead of key US economic data on jobs and gross domestic product later this week. Sterling rose against the euro, at 1.28.
The performance of the top flight was lifted by a rebound for heavily-weighted mining stocks. They were higher after some encouraging economic figures in China boosted confidence in the outlook for Asian demand.
BHP Billiton was the strongest riser in the top flight, up 56p to 1797.5p, while silver miner Fresnillo lifted 16.5p to 775.5p and Rio Tinto was 74.5p higher at 3182.5p.
Mobile phone giant Vodafone also offered support to the market with a gain of 5.6p to 204.3p.
Royal Mail fell two per cent or 9.7p to 414.4p after Dutch parcel delivery firm TNT Express issued a profits warning due to tough trading conditions in Europe.
The warning spooked Royal Mail investors as the UK company's General Logistics Systems business is one of the largest ground-based parcel delivery service providers in Europe.
Royal Bank of Scotland was little changed after it cut the sale price for flotation of 25 per cent of its US regional bank Citizens.
The taxpayer-backed bank has still raised £1.8 billion despite lowering the offer price to 21.50 US dollars from previous guidance of up to $25. RBS shares recovered from an initially poor start to close up 4.2p at 362.1p.
In corporate updates, shares in water and sewage services company United Utilities were up 8p to 822p after it said it expects to meet its regulatory targets for the five-year period to 2015.
Among other utilities firms, SSE rose 21p to 1530p but Centrica was down 6.3p to 308.1p after its shares began trading without the right to the latest dividend payment.
Topps Tiles were down 0.75p to 108.3p after it said profits for the year to September 26 are likely to be 30 per cent higher at £17m.
The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 Index were BHP Billiton up 56p at 1797.5p, Vodafone up 5.6p at 204.3p, Rio Tinto up 74.5p at 3182.5p and Kingfisher up 7.1p at 318.5p.
The biggest fallers were Royal Mail down 9.7p at 414.4p, Centrica down 6.3p at 308.1p, Intercontinental Hotels down 32p at 2374p and Aviva down 7p at 522.5p.
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