Burberry rose 2.81% on speculation that the company could be takeover target for a US private equity firm.
Mining shares were hit by a number of broker downgrades following recent falls in commodity prices.
At close of trade in London the FTSE 100  index of leading blue chip stocks was ahead by 77.95 points, or 1.12%, at 7015.36.
Anglo American shares fell 0.24% after Credit Suisse cut its rating on the company to "neutral" from "outperform".
Downgrades also hit BHP Billiton, which fell 1.09%. Credit Suisse cut its rating for BHP to "underperform" from "neutral", while Investec downgraded to "sell" from "hold".
On the currency markets, the pound fell 0.83% against the dollar to $1.4743 but was up 0.17% against the euro to ???1.3813.
Sterling was weakened by the latest UK trade figures, which showed the trade deficit widening by more than expected in February.
The Bank of England kept UK interest rates on hold at 0.5% - as expected - following its latest meeting.
(Close): Fashion house Burberry led the market higher following speculation that it could be a bid target.