London’s leading shares index pushed higher today amid hope that Greek prime minister George Papandreou would drop his plans to hold a referendum on the eurozone rescue deal.

A raft of solid earnings from household names encouraged investors to overlook the unfolding chaos in the eurozone and send London’s blue chip index higher.

The FTSE 100 Index lost ground today in a lacklustre end to the trading week but held firm above the 5700 mark breached in the previous session.