LONDON (AFP) - The FTSE 100 soared on Monday, with the index of leading shares up 4.84 percent after leading banks accepted billions of pounds of taxpayers' money to prop up their ailing institutions.

Leading indices across the world had plunged by almost a quarter in value last week on a collapse of confidence in the global financial system, while some shed as much as 10 percent on Friday alone in the worst performance for 21 years.

"We have had our first significant bounce in the markets for sometime now," City Index market strategist Joshua Raymond said in London.

"It's a dangerous time to start believing we have hit a bottom in the markets. With the volatility here to stay and confidence likely to seesaw for sometime, we are only really going to be able to tell if we have hit a bottom a month after we have done so," he added.

Meanwhile, the pound rallied against the dollar on the back of the government's announcement, standing at 1.7160 dollars (1.7051) in late morning trade.

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