LONDON (Reuters) - The FTSE 100 rose on Monday, pushing up to fresh 5-1/2 year peaks spurred on by robust economic data out of both the United States and Japan, with technical analysts anticipating further near-term gains.

The FTSE 100 was up 15.61 points, or 0.2 percent, at 6,738.67 by 0710 GMT, not far from an intraday peak of 6,754.10 reached in 2007, a resistance level for the index and a near-term target for a number of technical analysts.

Craig Erlam, analyst at Alpari, reckoned the FTSE 100 could break that level this week, setting his next target at 6,838, a high in September 2000 which he said was attainable in the next few weeks.

The U.S. Dow and S&P 500 finished at new record peaks on Friday after estimate-beating economic data and Japan's Nikkei surged to a 5-1/2 year high on Monday as Tokyo raised its assessment of the country's economy for the first time in two months.