On the back of substantial gains by oils and pharmaceutical stocks as a "fairly broad-based pre-Christmas rally" stepped into its second trading session, UK's FTSE 100 .FTSE share index managed to rise by 0.7% on Tuesday.

The index, as per figures recorded at closing, had hiked by 34.67 points to hit a new high of 5,328.66, but the reading was still about 50 points below the 14 month closing high figure which stood firm at 5,382.67 points and was achieved on November 16.

On Monday, the blue chip index closed 1.9% higher, which has been its biggest single day gain since December 01.

"As liquidity drains ahead of Christmas, stocks are just getting squeezed higher as most of the potential bad news moves out of the way and investors can focus on the festive season", said Mic Mills, senior trader at ETX Capital.

Energy shares were the top performers of the index, despite the fact that crude prices had declined to hit $74 per barrel once again. Shell, BP and Tullow Oil, all managed to gain 0.2 to 1.9%.

Cairn Energy was, however, the top riser, adding 6.3% to it’s per share trading value.

Among other winners were pharma firms AstraZeneca and GlaxoSmithKline, and British American Tobacco and Imperial Tobacco.