By Kit Rees
LONDON (Reuters) - The UK's top share index rallied on Tuesday, extending its gains from the previous session with well-received company news and a boost from better-than-expected euro zone Q2 GDP data.
The European Union's statistics office Eurostat said gross domestic product in the 19 countries sharing the euro rose 0.4 percent quarter-on-quarter in the April-June period, a 1.5 percent year-on-year rise.
This was a revision of the previously reported 0.3 percent quarterly rise and 1.2 percent year-on-year gain.
Data for German exports and imports hit record highs in value terms in July, climbing 2.4 percent and 2.2 percent respectively, beating a Reuters poll.
The FTSE 100 was up 1.7 percent at 6,176.01 points at 1129 GMT, a touch lower than European indexes.
Analysts said a disappointing set of Chinese import data for August supported the market. Although it raised concerns about the growth outlook for the world's second-largest economy, some saw it as a sign that China's authorities would do more to support the economy.
"(There is some) hope that you've got a lot more stimulus on the way from China," Chris Beauchamp, market analyst at IG, said.
Financial companies led the gainers, with EM-exposed HSBC (L:HSBA) and Hargreaves Lansdown (L:HRGV), a financial service provider and asset management company, both up 3.4 percent.
They were joined by Asia-exposed bank Standard Chartered (L:STAN) recovered from its post-Lehman lows to trade up 3.3 percent.
The FT350 banking sector index (FTNMX8350), was up 2.9 percent overall, on track for its biggest daily gain since late August.
United Utilities (L:UU) was the index's top gainer, rising 3.5 percent after another broker upgrade, with the utilities company on track for its sharpest two-day gain in nearly 4 months.
Whitbread (L:WTB) was the biggest faller, dropping 3.1 percent after posting slowing Q2 sales growth. The company, which owns Premier Inn hotels and Costa Coffee, said it expected to cut spending and increase some prices to counter the "substantial" cost of the higher national living wage.
In the FTSE mid-caps, insurer Amlin's (L:AML) stock surged by almost 33 percent, the top gainer, after Japan's MS&AD (T:8725) agreed to buy the UK rival in its fourth major international deal in as many months by Japanese insurers expanding overseas.
On the macroeconomic front, British retail spending stagnated last month as mixed weather and the later-than-usual date of a public holiday dampened sales of furniture and school clothing and equipment.