SPECULATION over a potential $245bn (£161bn) break-up bid for Vodafone helped propel the mobile phone company higher yesterday in buoyant trading on the FTSE 100 Index.

Vodafone was one of the biggest risers on the top tier, closing up nearly three per cent on talk that its US partner Verizon and AT&T are working on a deal for the UK group in what would mark the biggest takeover on record.

The FTSE 100 closed up 78.9 points at 6490.7, a gain of more than one per cent, having notched up its tenth month in a row of gains in March as it remained resilient in the face of recent fears over Cyprus.

The blue chip index continued to shake off concerns about the eurozone’s battered economy, with markets worldwide also enjoying a robust start to the second quarter.

Trading on Wall Street was on the front foot, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average gaining more than 90 points in early trade as it was lifted by strong retail figures and growth in the US manufacturing sector.

The Dax in Germany and France’s Cac 40 were also both up about two per cent, unshaken by Cypriot finance minister Michalis Sarris’s decision to quit in the wake of its ten billion euro (£8.4bn) bailout. The government has launched an investigation into how Cyprus’s economy nearly collapsed last month.

In a quiet day for corporate news, the City’s focus was on Newbury-based Vodafone which closed up 5.4p at 192p.

Budget airline EasyJet was the biggest climber on the FTSE 100, gaining 4.4 per cent ahead of an update on trading due on Friday.

Shares in the carrier – a recent addition to the blue chip index – rose 48p to close at 1128p.

In the FTSE 250, transport giant First Group gained 15p to 216.1p after a broker upgrade from Bank of America Merrill Lynch.