The latest lift for the top flight came in spite of another turbulent session for the banking sector as investors digested details of the Middle Eastern bail-out of Barclays and weighed up the HBoS takeover by Lloyds TSB.

Barclays was among the leading fallers following a 13 per cent slide on Friday, as concerns over the long-term cost of its capital injection continued among investors. The bank shed a further 4 per cent yesterday – falling by 7.4p to 171.5p.

It was joined on the fallers' board by Royal Bank of Scotland.

RBS – expected to write down billions more on toxic loans according to weekend reports – finished 2.3p cheaper at 65.2p, a fall of more than 3 per cent.

HBoS however bucked the trend to stand 6.1p higher at 105.4p after the bank said its takeover by Lloyds TSB was on track and reported write-downs in line with market expectations.

The stock was also helped by speculation of a potential counter bid for the business. Lloyds TSB was unchanged on the day at 197.8p.

Elsewhere miners continued their recent recovery, with Kazakhmys advancing by 521/4p to 3373/4p – almost 18 per cent higher – as stronger mineral prices helped to offset some of the heavy falls of last week.

Xstrata followed close behind, ahead by 109p to 1164p, while Eurasian Natural Resources was 40p better off at 3491/4p.

Meanwhile, as crude oil steadily crept back towards the $70 a barrel level, prospectors Cairn Energy and Tullow Oil advanced by 54p to 1658p and 36p to 560p, respectively.

Mobile phone giant Vodafone was one of the biggest Footsie fallers, off 2.6p to 116.5p, or 2 per cent as sentiment was jolted by BT's shock profits warning on Friday. BT failed to recoup all of Friday losses and stood just 1.7p higher at 116.8p.

Tesco was another prominent faller, down more than 2 per cent or 6.7p to 332.7p, as analysts at Societe Generale warned of possible trouble ahead in a difficult grocery market in Britain. That set back fellow grocer J Sainsbury, off 3p to 2791/2p.

Elsewhere in the retail sector, Marks & Spencer – expected to post poor results today – was on the back foot for a while before closing 21/2p higher at 2211/2p.

In the FTSE 250 Index, EasyJet fell 131/4p to 2943/4p after rival Ryanair promised "aggressive price promotions" over the winter, resulting in average fares falling by between 15 per cent and 20 per cent.

But housebuilder Taylor Wimpey went up 33/4p to 133/4p in a rare winning session for the battered stock. Biggest Footsie risers were Kazakhmys up 521/4p to 3373/4p, Old Mutual ahead 7.7p at 57.8p, Eurasian Natural Resources up 40p at 3491/4p and Xstrata ahead 109p at 1164p.

Biggest fallers were Fresnillo down by 5.1p at 117p, Barclays, off 7.4p at 171.5p, Royal Bank of Scotland down by 2.3p at 65.2p and Lonmin, which ended the day 39p lower at 1108p.