Shares in London nudged higher in spite of a decline in European trading sentiment after the European Union's €750 billion coronavirus crisis rescue package had sparked early positivity.

US trading was also bolstered by a significant retreat in US Covid-19 cases, but Europe's key markets nevertheless cooled after traders took stock of the eurozone funding deal.

The FTSE-100 closed 8.21 points higher at 6,269.73.

David Madden, market analyst at CMC Markets UK, said: "The confirmation that a compromise was reached came through in the early hours...and that helped stocks get off to a flying start this morning.

"The €750 billion fund will be divided into €390 billion of grants and €360 billion of loans, and keep in mind the initial proposal was for €500 billion in grants and €250 billion in loans.

"Stocks are off the highs of the session, probably because traders felt that some sort of a compromise was always going to be achieved in the end."

Meanwhile, sterling moved higher on trading excitement ahead of US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's arrival in London, and the potential US-UK trade talks that might follow.

The pound rose 0.57% versus the US dollar at 1.273 and was up 0.17% against the euro at 1.108.

Across the Atlantic, the Dow Jones soared after it was revealed that Monday saw just shy of 60,000 new Covid-19 cases in the US, highlighting a major improvement.

The major European markets missed intra-day highs after a storming opening.

The German Dax increased by 0.94%, while the French Cac moved 0.23% higher.

In company news, shares in Ladbrokes owner GVC plunged after it said it is under investigation by the UK tax authorities over its former Turkish online gambling business.

Shares tumbled by 102p to 770p.

TalkTalk nudged lower after the telecoms firm said headline revenues fell to £358 million in its first quarter to June 30 from £387m a year earlier due to trading restrictions and cancelled live sports.

Shares in the company closed 1.5p lower at 78p after it posted a sharp fall in the number of new fibre broadband customers it added on a net basis, at 67,000 in its first quarter against 118,000 a year earlier.

Ted Baker shares surged as the group hailed "resilient" trading after it revealed the sales hit from the coronavirus crisis was not as bad as expected.

It closed 10.2p higher at 80.8p.

Bloomsbury investors cheered the publisher's latest update, as it revealed it surpassed trading targets for the past four months as demand for books surged during the lockdown.

Shares jumped 27p to 227p.

The price of oil hit its highest level since early March as the overall feelgood factor in the markets provided a boost.

The price of a barrel of Brent crude oil increased by 2.96% to 44.5 US dollars.

The biggest risers on the FTSE-100 were Hargreaves Lansdown, up 161p at 1,750p, Rolls-Royce, up 20.8p at 285.6p, BP, up 12.75p at 315.95p, and Whitbread, up 85p at 2,365p.

The biggest fallers of the day were GVC, down 102p at 770p, Persimmon, down 87p at 2,517p, Avast, down 19.5p at 577p, and AstraZeneca, down 272p at 9,048p.