Britain's leading share index bounced higher on Friday in a shortened trading session after a severely delayed open, which the London Stock Exchange said was caused by a problem with market data. At the close, the FTSE 100 was up 81.22 points, or 1.4 percent at 6,001.20, with trading having begun at 1215 GMT. "Even without that interruption equities have had a much firmer tone today, with the FTSE pushing back above 6,000," said Michael Hewson, market analyst at CMC Markets.
Miners provided the main support for the blue chips, rallying after recent sharp falls as concerns eased about the impact of unrest in North Africa and the Middle East. Platinum miner Lonmin stood out, up 4.5 percent. Oil prices retreated to around $111 a barrel, having hit highs of nearly $120 on Thursday, as a senior industry official said top exporter Saudi Arabia had increased output to make up for any shortages as a result of a disruption to oil supplies caused by the political turmoil in Libya.
Banks were higher, recovering some of the sharp losses sustained earlier in the week, with global lender HSBC up 2.4 percent ahead of results due on Monday. However Lloyds Banking Group fell 4.5 percent after its results included a $4 billion pound hit from bad debts in Ireland and it said its margins would not improve this year.
US blue chips were 0.4 percent higher by London's close supported by a jump in the final February reading for the University of Michigan consumer sentiment index to 77.5, its highest level since January 2008. There was little reaction to revisions for fourth-quarter growth data in both Britain and the United States. British fourth-quarter 2010 GDP contracted by 0.6 percent, faster than previously thought, with analysts having expected an unchanged reading of down 0.5 percent.
The US economy grew at an annualised real rate of 2.8 percent in the final quarter of 2010, revised downward from an earlier forecast of 3.2 percent, the Commerce Department said. Chip designer ARM Holdings was the top FTSE 100 riser, up 6.0 percent, with traders citing sector consolidation hopes as well as the impact of a BofA Merrill Lynch upgrade to "neutral" from "underperform".
Satellite broadcaster BSkyB added 4.1 percent, after a report in the Financial Times said that Rupert Murdoch's News Corp is close to an agreement with regulators about its bid for the British satellite broadcaster. The UK blue chip index had a volatile week, dropping around 1.3 percent as the unrest in Libya and spiralling oil prices took their toll, but the total would have been double that without Friday's rally. "The weekend will come as a welcome respite from the increase in volatility, and the LSE will be happier than most to turn off their trading screens tonight," said Will Hedden, sales trader at IG Index.