The commodity-heavy FTSE 100 index was up 1 percent at 6,271.42 points by 1202 GMT (1302 BT), outperforming the broader European market.

The UK mining index rose 5.4 percent to its highest level since early May as prices of major industrial metals advanced after a fall in the U.S. currency, making dollar-priced commodities cheaper for holders of other currencies.[MET/L]

"Mining stocks are topping the FTSE 100 as the commodities space benefits from a weaker U.S. dollar basket. The currency’s reversal of recent strength comes in response to Friday’s surprisingly weak May U.S. jobs report," Mike van Dulken, head of research at Accendo Markets, said.

Miners Anglo American, Rio Tinto, BHP Billiton, Antofagasta and Glencore all rallied between 4.4 percent to 8.9 percent.

Among the top fallers, however, British housebuilding stocks Berkeley Group, Persimmon, Barratt Developments and Taylor Wimpey all fell between 0.9 percent and 1.5 percent after two opinion polls showed that Britain's "Out" campaign to leave the European Union was in the lead.

Brexit-related concerns also weighed on the domestically-focused FTSE 250, which was down 0.1 percent.

"We're in the final stages of the Brexit debate now, and anything with a strong UK exposure is starting to come under a bit of pressure from traders that are looking at stocks...that will see significant downside if there is a vote to leave the EU," Charles Hanover Investments' Roy said.

Pharmaceuticals company Indivior fell more than 10 percent with a trader citing a broker downgrade on the stock. Indivior had risen over 36 percent on Friday after winning a patent ruling on its main product, heroin substitute Suboxone Film.

ADVISORY- Reuters plans to replace intra-day European and UK stock market reports with a Live Markets blog on Eikon (see cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageId=livemarkets for site in development). In a real-time, multimedia format from 0600 London time through  the 1630 closing bell, it will include the best of our market reporting, Stocks Buzz service, Eikon graphics, Reuters pictures, eye-catching research and market zeitgeist. Breaking news and dramatic market moves will continue to be alerted to all clients and we will continue to provide a short opening story and comprehensive closing reports.

                 

If you have any thoughts, suggestions or feedback on this, please email mike.dolan@thomsonreuters.com. 

                 Mike Dolan, Markets Editor EMEA.

(Additional reporting by Atul Prakash; Editing by Jon Boyle)

By Kit Rees