The FTSE 100 rose to 6755.8 points, the highest since the height of the dotcom boom on September 5, 2000. The index has risen by 14 per cent since the start of 2013, and is now within touching distance of the all-time record level of 6950.6 points, set in December 1999.
RBS added 4.5 per cent to its price, rising to 351.9p, and taking its gains over the past two weeks to 21 per cent. The increase in the index came as the Bank of England’s governor Mervyn King revealed better than expected signs of recovery in the economy.
