THE FTSE 100 Index roared into 2011 with a near two per cent gain yesterday as investors started the new year in a positive mood.

A six per cent surge from BP helped London’s top tier soar 113.9 points to 6013.9 in its first trading day of the year, making up ground lost on New Year’s Eve.

Wall Street saw a more mixed performance, despite good news from the US manufacturing industry as data showed factory goods orders rose unexpectedly in November.

The data followed robust manufacturing data from the US yesterday, which triggered a rally for markets on Monday and was mirrored in the UK yesterday after the Chartered Institute of Purchasing and Supply recorded the sector’s strongest performance in 16 years. The news also gave the pound a boost.

Among stocks, the focus was on BP after reports that Royal Dutch Shell considered a takeover bid at the time of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

UK commodity stocks on the front foot included Eurasian Natural Resources up 33p at 1081p and oil-related stock Tullow Oil ahead 47p at 1308p.

Shell was 44.5p higher at 2159.5p after the BP speculation, while Cairn Energy rose 11.6p to 431.6p after it said it would use two rigs to drill up to four exploration wells off Greenland this year.

Other risers included Royal Bank of Scotland, whose shares recovered from weakness over Christmas to lift 1.6p to 40.7p.

Next, which is due to update the City on its trading performance today, also rose – up 40p to 2015p.

Blacks Leisure gave the retail sector an unexpected boost by posting December sales figures ahead of market forecasts. Shares rose six per cent to 42.25p.

The biggest risers were BP up 27.4p to 492.9p, British Airways ahead 13.4p to 285.9p, Smiths Group up 54p to 1299p and Barclays up 11.1p to 272.8p.