The FTSE 100 broke through the 6,000 level amid a flurry of major corporate merger and acquisition reports from across the Atlantic.

In what has been a relatively narrow trading margin compared to recent session, the FTSE 100 was 58 points to the good at 6,005.

On Wall Street US futures point to a higher start amid a raft of major corporate news over the weekend and today.  

Microsoft gave internet search engine Yahoo a three-week deadline to agree to a takeover or face a proxy fight for control of the company.

Meanwhile Swiss pharmaceutical maker Novartis said it was buying 25% of eye-care company Alcon. It also has the option to buy more than three-quarters of the company in a deal which could be worth around $38 billion (£19 billion).   

In other corporate news Washington Mutual is seeking a $5 billion investment from private equity firm TPG.

In London mining stocks peppered the FTSE leaderboard on the back of a bullish note from Goldman Sachs, which upgraded its rating on the sector from neutral to attractive. Kazakhmys, up 95p to £16.86, was the top blue chip, with Antofagasta, up 32p to 78.5p, Vedanta Resources, up 76p to £22.57, and Anglo American, up 109p to £32.71, all lending strong support.

Meanwhile Centrica was trading 11.5p higher at 315p after confirming it was interested in making a bid for British Energy, up 18p to 729p.