UK Stocks Closing : UK equities posted their biggest one-day gain in six months on Wednesday, catching up with the rest of Europe after a four-day weekend on expectations that weak data and the deepening euro zone crisis may galvanise global policymakers into action.

The European Central Bank left rates on hold and made no clear promise of future action, but President Mario Draghi admitted that a cut had been discussed at Wednesday’s meeting.

UK and other equity markets briefly trimmed gains in the aftermath, but sentiment remained upbeat, with the spotlight now on the Bank of England policy decision and a speech by U.S. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, both due on Thursday.

Investors were also looking for developments in the euro zone crisis, with Germany and European Union officials said to be urgently exploring ways to rescue Spain’s debt-stricken banks.

Something has to happen in terms of a potential bailout for Spain, said Steve Asfour, sales trader at Fox Davies Capital.

It’s more short covering … so it won’t last long. Every time we get one bullish day and then tomorrow we start bullish and people start selling again because there is no plan of action. We don’t think this rally will last but we are advising people to look at gold producers.

The FTSE 100 closed up 124.59 points, or 2.4 percent at 5,384.11, recovering from a six-month intraday low of 5,229.76 set on Friday before the long weekend in Britain.

Miners, indeed, were among the top performers on Wednesday, with Randgold Resources, Fresnillo and Anglo American all up around 7 percent.

If global central banks act to stimulate growth, that should boost demand for metals, to the benefit of the sector.

Expectations of stronger stabilisation measures prompted Nomura to reiterate its overweight rating on both the UK and Europe in a strategy note published on Wednesday.

Banks – which are most directly exposed to the euro zone crisis through their bond holdings and loan books, and are also among the best placed to benefit from any central bank stimulus – outperformed, in part playing catch up with a 4.9 percent jump in the euro zone banking sector on Monday and Tuesday.

Strategists though remained cautious on the sustainability of the rally, and the likelihood of imminent policy action.

Neil Marsh, strategist at Newedge, put the chances of a step from the Fed at 50-50.

I am quite sceptical, people have been talking about doing something for a long time and nothing really changes, things don’t move forward, he said.

Technical charts also pointed to more weakness in the FTSE on a three-month horizon.

An obvious target is the 2010/2011 low area, 4,791/5,128 – low and lowest monthly close, SEB strategists said in a note.

DIVIDENDS, RESHUFFLE

Man Group added 7.1 percent, as Citigroup upgraded the struggling hedge fund manager to buy, while cutting its estimates and target price, noting that the stock is down 40 percent in the year-to-date, and more than 70 percent since January 2011.

However, Man Group is still on track to be the sole stock demoted from the FTSE 100 in the latest quarterly index review, due after the market close on Wednesday. The review is based on closing prices from last Friday.

It is likely to be replaced by defence services firm Babcock International, with the changes implemented on June 18.

On the downside, Vodafone, the world’s largest mobile phone operator by revenue, was the biggest blue chip loser, dropping 2.7 percent, as the market heavyweight’s stock traded without the entitlement to its latest dividend.