The London FTSE 100 Index held on to a late rally to put a halt to a 4 day losing streak yesterday. Investors are hoping to stay on the path set by Monday’s tone.

The Index finished the day 25.2 points higher at 5071.7 as Wall Street in the US added a much needed boost after a mediocre trading day in London.

America’s Dow Jones overcame an unstable beginning to finish 40 points higher.

Despite the news that the G20 Summit leaders delayed handing down harsh new capital limits, banks had a woeful start to the week.

Also, even though Asian Standard Chartered and the Royal Bank of Scotland were down at the end of the session, the pound had a successful day. It reached a 19 month high versus the euro on estimates that euro zone debt worries would leave the region fiscally weaker than the UK.

BP was again a front running story by reporting it was stopping more than 24,000 barrels of oil a day from leaking into the Gulf. The report also mentioned the high possibility of plugging the leak within the next two weeks. The BP stock was up 3 per cent temporarily on hopes of a shorter timeline for building relief wells in the Gulf of Mexico.

Another oil company, Premier was surging ahead by 7 per cent after it boasted success of a North Sea exploring operation. Its shares jumped in the FTSE 250 after mention of the exploration off the Coast of Scotland could turn into one of the region’s biggest oil discoveries in recent years. The firm has a one third stake in the exploration project.

Elsewhere shares in Connaught fell by another 37 per cent. This was caused by Chancellor Osborne’s emergency Budget which would negatively affect reserves and therefor profits.

Companies making the biggest move up were Fresnillo, and Lloyd’s Banking Group. Others falling in the opposite direction were Royal Bank of Scotland, Standard Charter and Capita Group.