The Nikkei and Hang Seng were both in positive territory, while the FTSE 100 Index lifted 71 points to 4894.5, a gain of around 1.5%.
'Miners and banks are pushing us up and there's a decent move in BP,' said Giles Watts, head of equities at City Index. 'There's a slight change in sentiment, but nothing to get too excited about, volumes are very light.'
Commodity stocks were the main beneficiaries as investors took the view that stocks were looking oversold after a poor recent run for world markets.
The risers' board was led by Vedanta Resources, which cheered 103p to 2203p, while BP enjoyed its second positive session in a row with a gain of 13.75p to 347.1p.
The oil major was boosted by an upgrade from RBS to 'buy' from 'hold', with the broker saying the near 50% fall in BP's value since the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico started in April was overdone from a valuation perspective.
BP has approached sovereign wealth funds with a view to securing a strategic investor to fend off takeover bids while it deals with the spill.
Also in the energy sector, Tullow Oil was 36p up at 1,077p after the oil explorer said it expected Ugandan government approval imminently for a deal which will allow it to begin a landmark oil development in the country.
This followed Royal Bank of Scotland's decision to upgrade the stock from hold to buy and after the oil company insisted it would be able to meet the cost of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill without issuing new shares.
The positive session extended to banking stocks, with Barclays up 10.25p at 269.45p and Lloyds Banking Group ahead 1.65p at 56.4p.
Housebuilders were in positive territory in the FTSE 250 Index after Persimmon reported a 25% rise in half-year turnover and said sales had returned to more normal levels since George Osborne's austerity Budget.
Persimmon jumped 6% or 20.5p to 369p, while Barratt Developments was 4.8p higher at 98.7p.
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