The FTSE 100 was up 0.74%, or 38.31 points, at 5201.99 in early trading, with mining stocks the biggest winners.
Fresnillo, Xstrata, Kazakhmys, Vedanta Resources and Anglo American were all up between 2% and 2.5% following a rise in commodity prices.
Troubled oil giant BP was the biggest loser following late gains last week, falling 2.85% to £3.80 a share.
Argos-owner Home Retail Group also fell slightly, down 0.60% to £2.32 following a disappointing sales update on Friday.
Outside the FTSE 100, insurance firm Resolution asked for its shares to be suspended after it confirmed it was in talks with Axa about buying its UK life assurance businesses for £2.75bn.
In the US last week the Dow Jones bounced back from early falls after a strong consumer confidence survey offset disappointing retail sale figures.
The index climbed 38.5 points, or 0.4%, to 10,211.07 as consumer confidence hit its highest level since 2008 in June, despite retail sales falling by 1.2% in May.
In Japan the Nikkei ended up for the third straight session, helped along by a surge in the value of the euro and Wall Street's rise.
The index rose 174.60 points, or 1.8%, to 9879.85, with Panasonic gaining 6.9% to 1,220 yen on a news reports that its Sanyo division is expanding into the US and Europe.
