LONDON: London stocks rose Wednesday after bumper gains earlier in Asia, as investors welcomed the US Federal Reserve's upbeat economic outlook, analysts said.

In late morning European trade, London's benchmark FTSE 100 index gained 0.58 percent to 5,652.99 points.

"The FTSE's early gains today were fuelled by yesterday's positive forecast from the US Federal Reserve, which came after UK markets had closed," said analyst Anthony Grech at financial spread-betting firm IG Index.

"The Fed pledged to keep rates in the current 0-0.25 percent range for an extended period of time, while simultaneously providing a generally upbeat assessment of the US economy.