There was a winning start to the final quarter of the year on the London market as news of the planned merger of Boots and Alliance UniChem lifted investor sentiment on Monday.

The FTSE 100 rose 23.8 points, or 0.4 per cent, to a fresh four-year high of 5,501.5 while the FTSE 250 index gained 16.8 points, or 0.2 per cent, to 7,967.9. Volume was an average 2.7bn shares.