FTSE 100 sees best week since April on recovery hopes; M&A chatter boosts Meggitt

London's FTSE 100 rose on Friday and was on track for its best week in a month, as hopes of a stronger economic recovery boosted commodity and industrial stocks, while Meggitt shares soared on a takeover report.

The blue-chip index rose 0.3%, with Melrose Industries adding 2.6% after Morgan Stanley raised its price target on the engineer's shares.

Oil majors BP and Royal Dutch Shell gained 0.7% and 1.3%, respectively, while miners jumped tracking crude and metal prices.

Globally, investor sentiment was also bolstered by a batch of upbeat economic data from the United States and China amid concerns over surging coronavirus cases in parts of Asia.

"This year is all about balance where we do want exposure to cyclical and value equities. The UK is a very good market to buy those, particularly given the fact on a forward earnings basis, it is still one of the cheapest globally," said Edward Park, chief investment officer at Brooks Macdonald.

"There's a degree of optimism now that is looking through some of the near-term uncertainty around COVID-19 and the market base case certainly is that as vaccination programmes roll out, the risk of COVID-19 reduces."

The FTSE 100 has gained nearly 10% year-to-date as investors flocked to energy, materials and banking stocks that are seen benefiting the most from a stronger economic recovery due to speedy COVID-19 vaccine rollouts and government policy support.

The domestically focused mid-cap FTSE 250 index advanced 0.6%.

St. Modwen Properties surged 18.9% after it received a potential takeover offer from private-equity firm Blackstone, valuing the property developer at around 1.21 billion pounds ($1.68 billion).

Meggitt jumped 13.3% on report that US group Woodward Inc was looking to acquire the UK aero-engineer.

Barclays gained 2% after activist investor Sherborne sold its 6% stake in the company, disbanding its efforts to overhaul the British bank.