Broad-based buying across the FTSE's main sectors has helped keep top shares at 19-month highs, but Cable & Wireless has fallen after its joint broker issued a note saying the shares were fully valued.
By 1:18 p.m. today the FTSE 100 index was up 33.9 points to 4,549.5, its highest reading since July 10, 2002, and extending Thursday's 73-point gain. Oils were the biggest driver, with Shell up 2.3 percent.
"This rally is very broadly-based, its liquidity driven and asset allocation driven," said Nigel Cobby Managing Director European equities at JP Morgan.
"One gets a strong sense that the long money, not hedge funds, are using the cash they are seeing coming into their coffers to spend on equities not bonds or cash."
Dealers and analysts forecast the FTSE making further headway over the coming weeks and months as confidence in the health of UK Plc grew, with 5,000 points a possibility.
