The blue-chip FTSE 100 index <.FTSE> was up 1.7 percent at 6,243.04 points by 0757 GMT, building on the previous session's 2.6 percent jump. Stocks fell sharply on Friday and Monday after Britain voted in a referendum to leave the European Union.

Britain's outgoing Prime Minister David Cameron said he had not faced overwhelming pressure to trigger immediately the exit clause in the EU treaty, despite some public statements to the contrary.

"Traders are focusing on a more positive side and they pounce on the opportunities which have arisen from the recent sell-off and try to bag some bargains," Naeem Aslam, chief analyst at TF Global Markets, said.

Financials, which had slumped in the aftermath of last week's Brexit vote, were among the top gainers.

The UK banking index <.FTNMX8350> and the life insurance index <.FTNMX8570> rose 2.2 percent and 3.6 percent respectively, while mining stocks <.FTNMX1770> also climbed 2.1 percent, tracking a rise in metals prices.

Shares in Prudential (>> Prudential plc), Aviva (>> Aviva plc), Barclays (>> Barclays PLC) and Anglo American (>> Anglo American plc) were 3.3 to 4.7 percent higher.

Chris Beauchamp, senior market analyst at IG, also said that there were a lot of opportunities to buy companies at cheap valuations with good yields.

"At least you know you're getting it cheaper than you were last week and that you can ride out some of the volatility," he said. "If you've got a time-frame that extends beyond the end of next week ... then you want to go buying stuff if you can," he added.

Tour operator TUI , however, fell 4.3 percent after JP Morgan cut its target price on the stock.

(Reporting by Atul Prakash; Editing by Sudip Kar-Gupta and Jon Boyle)

By Kit Rees and Atul Prakash

Stocks treated in this article : Aviva plc, Anglo American plc, Barclays PLC, Prudential plc