Britain's FTSE 100 index sprinted up more than 1.5 per cent at the start of business this morning.
It was boosted by another surge on Wall Street, with oils and telecoms leading the way higher.
Oil shares added 10 points to the index and telecoms put on seven points.
Healthcare group Amersham jumped 7.3 per cent after announcing higher half-year profits and predicting it was on course to meet its targets for the full year.
British American Tobacco rose 3 per cent after reporting an 11 per cent rise in first-half profit and saying it was confident of its future prospects.
"When you come in and see the Dow up 450-odd points you know you're going to get some reaction. I think you could get a two-way situation where people want to take a bit of profit later on," said one trader.
Market watchers pointed out a small retreat in US stock index futures which was dampening the reaction to the overnight jump of 447 points in the Dow Jones industrial average. Yesterday's gain followed a near-500-point Dow surge last week.