Heavily-weighted miners were the top performers, with Anglo American, Glencore, Antofagasta and Rio Tinto all sharply higher.

Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group gained after confirming it was backing the £191m takeover of N Brown , as it continues its pursuit of luxury handbag brand Mulberry.

Frasers - which owns 20.3% of N Brown - said it had signed an irrevocable undertaking to vote in favour of the 40p per share cash deal.

The AIM-listed owner of Simply Be and JD Williams announced on Thursday that it had agreed to be taken private by a Joshua Alliance, a member of its founding family.

Fresnillo shone as gold prices hit another record high, breaking through the $2,700 mark for the first time.

British American Tobacco slumped despite saying that one of its subsidiaries was getting closer to settling a multibillion dollar lawsuit in Canada.

Housebuilders were in the red, with Taylor Wimpey, Persimmon, Vistry and Barratt Redrow all lower.

Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, said the stocks were "under some pressure as Budget uncertainty continues to unsettle the outlook despite new government pledges to revive the sector".

FTSE 100 - Risers

Prudential (PRU) 677.40p 3.45%
Anglo American (AAL) 2,400.00p 2.67%
Glencore (GLEN) 413.85p 2.64%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,839.00p 2.02%
Fresnillo (FRES) 698.00p 1.97%
Frasers Group (FRAS) 831.50p 1.22%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 5,004.00p 1.17%
Flutter Entertainment (DI) (FLTR) 17,975.00p 1.07%
Entain (ENT) 739.40p 0.98%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 844.00p 0.84%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

British American Tobacco (BATS) 2,635.00p -3.41%
Smith (DS) (SMDS) 452.20p -2.29%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 162.30p -2.26%
Next (NXT) 10,255.00p -1.91%
Persimmon (PSN) 1,658.50p -1.78%
Vistry Group (VTY) 973.50p -1.77%
LondonMetric Property (LMP) 205.00p -1.73%
Relx plc (REL) 3,662.00p -1.69%
Barratt Redrow (BTRW) 486.70p -1.50%
Compass Group (CPG) 2,490.00p -1.46%