NEW Bank of England governor Mark Carney sparked a shares surge yesterday as policymakers hinted that low interest rates would continue for the foreseeable future.

The FTSE 100 Index rose more than three per cent, or 191.8 points, to 6421.7, following the Bank’s first rates meeting under his stewardship. All except two companies in the topflight increased in value.

The surge was further fuelled by a commitment from European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi that its rate would also remain low for an extended period of time. European markets were also up strongly on Mr Draghi’s announcement.

In London, the Bank’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) held the bank rate at 0.5 per cent and left its quantitative easing programme unchanged at £375bn, as widely expected.

But it surprised the City by issuing a note in which it said expectations of a rate rise to come next year were not warranted.

It was enough to help the markets cast aside earlier worries over eurozone debt fears and the turmoil in Egypt. The mood had also been lifted earlier by encouraging news on the US economy, though with Wall Street closed for the Independence Day holiday there was not much direction from the US ahead of a key jobs report today.

Meanwhile, oil prices remained above $100 (£66) a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange on worries that the volatile situation in Egypt could impact on the flow of oil through the Suez canal.

On the FTSE 100, easy- Jet shares were up by more than three per cent.

The low-cost airline said it carried 100,000 more passengers last month than in the same period last year, a 1.9 per cent rise taking the total to 5.5 million.

The stock has risen more than three-fold in the past two years and climbed further yesterday, up 47 points to 1367 points.