By Sudip Kar-Gupta
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's top equity index climbed on Tuesday, boosted by engineer Smiths Group (L:SMIN) and defence stocks, which rose as France stepped up its military response to last week's attacks in Paris.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 index closed up 2 percent at 6,268.76 points. The FTSE, nevertheless, remains down 4.5 percent since the start of 2015 and 12 percent below a record high reached in April.
Smiths Group surged 10.2 percent, topping the FTSE 100, after robust first-quarter results and a change in its pension plan funding that should bolster its cash flow.
Companies dealing in the defence and military industries also rose as France carried out new air strikes on Islamic State bases in northern Syria, following last Friday's attacks in Paris claimed by the Islamist group which killed more than 120 people.
Rolls Royce (L:RR), which slumped last week after a profit warning, rose 5.1 percent while BAE Systems (L:BAES) gained 2 percent.
"I'm keen on BAE at the moment, and I see the FTSE going up to 6,300 or 6,330 points soon," said Roderic Owen-Thomas, derivatives trader at JNF Capital.
Sainsbury also rose 2.1 percent after industry data from Kantar Worldpanel showed an increase in third-quarter sales at the supermarket, while rival Tesco (L:TSCO) rose after Citigroup (N:C) upgraded it to "buy" from "neutral."
However, budget airline operator easyJet (L:EZJ) fell 4.1 percent despite reporting an 18 percent jump in annual profit, while mining stocks also fell as the price of copper touched its lowest level in more than six years. [MET/L]
Analysts said concern that tourist numbers may fall following the attacks in Paris had weighed on easyJet shares.
Other tourism stocks recovered following an initial sell-off on Monday after the Paris attacks, with Carnival (L:CCL), TUI, Intercontinental Hotels and International Consolidated Airlines Group (L:ICAG) all ending higher.