THE FTSE 100 began the week on the front foot on Monday, pushed higher by the knock-on impact of higher gold prices on mining stocks.
London's top flight closed up 33.31 points, or 0.48 per cent, at 7,029.22, helped by the likes of Randgold and Fresnillo.
The miners were riding high after investors looked towards safe haven assets such as gold amid a tricky period for equities as the US and China trade war rumbles on and the prospect of higher American interest rates spooks markets.
Michael Hewson, chief analyst at CMC Markets UK, said: "This rise in the gold price has helped push Randgold Resources and Fresnillo to the top of the FTSE 100 today as a weaker outlook for stocks prompts some haven buying in the wake of last week's heavy stock market falls."
The price of gold was up from $1,218.11 an ounce to around $1,228.24 at one point.
Randgold finished the day up 298p at 6,082p, while Fresnillo gained 35.8p at 912.2p.
Elsewhere, the high street bloodbath being endured by Britain's retailers showed no sign of letting up as Superdry became the latest to warn over profits, sending its shares tumbling.
The clothing brand warned its full-year performance will be impacted by the recent warm weather and additional foreign exchange costs.
The company expects profits to be £10 million lower due to unseasonably hot conditions across the UK, continental Europe and the east coast of the US.
Shares plummeted, closing down more than 21%, or 215p, at 800p.
Medical devices maker Convatec also faltered as the company released a double whammy of updates, warning of a hit to sales and announcing the retirement of its chief executive.
Convatec's revenue in the fourth quarter is expected to be negatively affected, falling by between $18m and $23m (£13.7m to £17.5m).
The group said the adjustment was due to a change in inventory policy by the biggest customer of its infusion devices franchise.
The company also announced that chief executive Paul Moraviec is to retire. Shares were down 74.2p at 150p.
Sterling had a relatively uneventful day as it clawed back lost ground against the dollar to end up 0.4% at 1.316 at the London close.
Versus the euro, the pound was trading up 0.1% at 1.135.
However, Brexit is threatening to rear its head again as Britain and the EU head towards March 29 without sign of a coherent deal being in place.
"The disappointment surrounding the collapse of Brexit talks over the weekend saw the pound slide back early on, however we've slowly seen it claw back that initial lost ground.
"There has been a lot of noise about the rising prospects of a no-deal outcome, and the weekend breakdown has fed into that but there is still a great deal of time to iron out any last-minute issues, despite a lot of the hyperbole emanating from various political circles," said Mr Hewson.
In Europe, France's CAC 40 was up 0.14% while Germany's DAX rose 0.78%.
A barrel of Brent Crude was trading at $80.1, a rise of 0.4%.
The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Randgold Resources up 298p at 6,082p, Paddy Power Betfair up 275p at 6,290p, Fresnillo up 35.8p at 912.2p and Imperial Brands up 70.5p at 2,587p.
The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were BAE Systems down 22.4p at 561.8p, Ocado down 23.4p at 789.8p, Melrose Industries down 4.85p at 465.65p and Rightmove down 8.35p at 425.5p.
Why are you making commenting on The Herald only available to subscribers?
It should have been a safe space for informed debate, somewhere for readers to discuss issues around the biggest stories of the day, but all too often the below the line comments on most websites have become bogged down by off-topic discussions and abuse.
heraldscotland.com is tackling this problem by allowing only subscribers to comment.
We are doing this to improve the experience for our loyal readers and we believe it will reduce the ability of trolls and troublemakers, who occasionally find their way onto our site, to abuse our journalists and readers. We also hope it will help the comments section fulfil its promise as a part of Scotland's conversation with itself.
We are lucky at The Herald. We are read by an informed, educated readership who can add their knowledge and insights to our stories.
That is invaluable.
We are making the subscriber-only change to support our valued readers, who tell us they don't want the site cluttered up with irrelevant comments, untruths and abuse.
In the past, the journalist’s job was to collect and distribute information to the audience. Technology means that readers can shape a discussion. We look forward to hearing from you on heraldscotland.com
Comments & Moderation
Readers’ comments: You are personally liable for the content of any comments you upload to this website, so please act responsibly. We do not pre-moderate or monitor readers’ comments appearing on our websites, but we do post-moderate in response to complaints we receive or otherwise when a potential problem comes to our attention. You can make a complaint by using the ‘report this post’ link . We may then apply our discretion under the user terms to amend or delete comments.
Post moderation is undertaken full-time 9am-6pm on weekdays, and on a part-time basis outwith those hours.
Read the rules here