The Footsie pushed higher in early trading, tracking gains by Asian markets after Bank of Japan tweaks to its monetary policy today seemed to please investors, although caution remained ahead of tonight’s Federal Reserve rate decision.

In opening deals, the FTSE 100 index was up 38.1 points, or 0.6 per cent at 6,868.9, having closed 17.24 points higher yesterday.

A rally by oil prices today also helped underpin the Footsie’s gains, with Brent crude up 1.4 per cent at $46.51 (£35.83) a barrel in early London trading as hopes for an Opec production deal wax and wane, and ahead of US crude inventory data later today.