Oil and banking gains boost market
London shares ended the week in upbeat mood, helped by solid gains in oil and banking stocks.
By the close of trading, the FTSE 100 Index was 52.8 points ahead at 5291.
This was the highest close since the beginning of September.
Oil stocks lent weight to the rise, with BP and Shell rebounding from recent falls.
The firms have taken a battering on the market over the last two days as the oil price has fallen following Opec's failure to reach agreement with non-Opec member Russia over production cuts.
But yesterday, they rebounded, with BP up 2%, or 11½p at 503p and Shell up 21p at 477p, while smaller firm Enterprise Oil was up a penny at 433½p.
Banks were also putting in a good performance, with Royal Bank of Scotland up 35p at £16.73, Abbey National up 35p at £10.64p and HSBC up 15½p at 829½p.
Standard Chartered was ahead 24p at 800p, Barclays put on 53p to £22.13 and and Lloyds TSB rose 18p to 728p.
Other risers included British Airways, which climbed 2½p to 219½p, following an upgrade from stockbroker UBS Warburg.
BA has put on a spurt this week that has prevented it being replaced as a FTSE 100 stock by mmO2 when BT's mobile phone arm is demerged on Monday.
BT itself was up a penny at 356p - in its last day of trading before the split.
Personnel and logistics group Hays was also making progress, up 6¾p to 214½p after agreeing a seven-year deal with UK life assurer Liverpool Victoria.
