After a poor morning performance, the FTSE 100 rallied on Monday afternoon to start the week with a bang.

London’s top index jumped by 88.61 points, a 1.3% rise that leaves the index at 6,719.13, its highest since mid-February. It had traded down by around 0.2% earlier in the morning.

However, the FTSE lagged behind its European peers, as Germany’s top companies which make up the Dax gained 3.4%, and France’s Cac index added 2.1%.

Banks including HSBC, Barclays and Lloyds joined the index’s biggest winners, while supermarkets dropped, including Tesco, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s.

“The FTSE 100 has also had a good day, hitting a one-week high, though it has lagged behind its European counterparts, with the likes of traditional utilities underperforming, along with a weaker oil price which has pulled the likes of BP and Royal Dutch Shell into negative territory,” said CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson.

The price of Brent crude oil dropped 1.4% to $68.39 per barrel.

London’s performance put it more on par with its cousins across the pond, as the Dow Jones had added 1.4% and the S&P 500 0.7% shortly after markets closed in Europe. It was pressured lower by the London Stock Exchange Group, which ended the day down by 7.4% after analysts raised concerns.

“London Stock Exchange has also continued to experience a post-results hangover, falling again after last week’s sharp move lower, on scepticism over its cost-savings plans with respect to its Refinitiv acquisition,” Mr Hewson said.

Sterling was practically flat against the dollar, ending the day at 1.3816, while the currency rose 0.6% to buy 1.166 euros.

Morrisons was among the losers on the day, down 2.2% alongside its other supermarket peers. The company on Monday promised that the farms where it sources meat, eggs, fruit and vegetables would have net zero emissions by 2030. It would mean the farms have no overall impact on climate change. Aston Martin also revealed green moves, telling the Financial Times that it would manufacture electric SUVs in the UK from the middle of the decade. Shares dropped 0.6%. Pearson saw its share price jump by 6.4% as the publisher released an optimistic outlook with a jump in revenue as lockdown restrictions ease.

Shares in Direct Line fell 1.8% as shareholders were not taken by a promise to buy back £100 million in shares as it revealed an 11% fall in pre-tax profit.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Taylor Wimpey, up 7.75p to 178.65p, Whitbread, up 146p to 3,559p, Lloyds, up 1.705p to 41.78p, Pershing Square, up 100p to 2,525p, and HSBC, up 17.9p to 455.5p. The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were London Stock Exchange Group, down 518p to 7,606p, Avast, down 26p to 420p, Rentokil, down 16.1p to 466.7p, B&M, down 17.4p to 520p, and BT, down 4.15p to 137.3p.