Thanks to rising miners and catering giant Compass, the FTSE 100 has managed some late gains to finish the week on a brighter note, up 60 points, or 1.1%, at 5,784 and shrugging off another fall on Wall Street.
Despite the Friday gains the London index of blue-chips has lost another 4% over the course of this week. By the time London closed, the Dow was down around 50 points at 12,200.
Back in London, Antofagasta tops today's gainers board, up 42.5p at 722.5p helped by firmer metal prices. Lonmin, Kazakhmys, Vedanta Resources and Anglo American are also in the top 10.
Compass is off earlier highs but still up 12.75p, or 4.1%, at 326.5p thanks to solid results for its first quarter.
Among the cluster of stocks boosted by M&A chatter, Carphone Warehouse failed to hang on to early gains and has ended just 0.25p higher at 309.5. Wast disposal specialist Biffa remained strong all day after accepting a private equity bid and is 41.5p higher at the close at 369.5p, just below the day's high of 370p. It is up a massive 12.7%, making it far and away the biggest gainer on the FTSE 250.
Turning to the biggest losers of the day, Yell again has been the victim of heavy selling after it sent jitters through the market on Thursday by cutting its forecasts and reporting rising caution among UK classified advertisers. The shares were the biggest fallers in the FTSE 100, down 17.75p at 262p.
Among the midcaps the biggest drop was for Premier Foods, down 11.25p, or 9.4%, at 108.75p, as market fears persisted about its ability to cover rising raw ingredients costs. Premier told the market it was not considering a rights issue, contrary to City speculation, and that it did not expect to be in breach of its financial covenants.
