Footsie buoyed after global flare in optimism

Monday proved to be a solid start to the week for the FTSE 100 and global markets as investors started to gamble that an economic upturn is more firmly in place. The FTSE 100 advanced 73 points to 5242, although it did fail to hang on to more impressive gains late on in the session. Today's advance leaves London's leading index at an eight week high and no longer at a loss for 2002. Further encouraging UK data emerged today – the UK construction industry grew faster in February than in in January and the confidence of UK service companies improved for the first time in...