Earnings hopes help FTSE to 2% gain

Hopes of a strong Q2 earnings season boosted investor sentiment on Tuesday, helping the FTSE to triple-digit gains.

In the US, there were upbeat reports from Alcoa and CSX while, in the UK, fashion retailer Burberry posted better-than-expected Q2 earnings.

As of shortly after 2pm GMT, London's leading index was up more than 103 points, or 1.98%, at 5,270.

News UK inflation had dropped for a second consecutive month to 3.2% in June also encouraged investors.

BP continues to lead the day's winners, advancing 4.2% to 416p, after successfully installing a new sealing cap on the leaking Gulf of Mexico oil well.

BP says it hopes the new cap will stop the leak and capture all the oil before it can pour into the sea.

Miners are also seeing the upside, with Eurasian Natural Resources gaining 3.56% and Kazakhmys, Anglo American, Xstrata and Vedanta Resources all advancing.

Earlier on Tuesday, Asian stocks fell after China reaffirmed a commitment to lending curbs.

China's Shanghai Composite Index sank 1.6% while Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index and Japan's Nikkei 225 Stock Average both declined 0.1%.