The first trading session of the new financial year saw London's leading stocks move confidently higher into new ground, propelled by optimism over Wall Street and the prospect of interest rate cuts in Britain and the euro zone.

If that was not enough to satisfy the market's rampant bulls, there was another burst of take-over stories and evidence of a last minute rush for the final year of personal equity plans.

Dealers said Wall Street provided the initial impetus behind yesterday's performance, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average finishing above 10,000 overnight in response to a surge of support for hi-tech stocks and to the March non-farm payroll report published on Friday.

Wall Street gave no further support to global markets yesterday, opening the session on a modestly firmer note, only to succumb to profit-taking, despite the mid-afternoon ceasefire announced by the Serb government. That produced a short-lived rally in the Dow.

At the finish of a day of sustained strength, the FTSE 100 remained above the 6,400 barrier at 6,415.3, up 85.3. The index hit a record intra-day high of 6,443.9, up 113.9.