Leading shares ended the week on a bright note, with the FTSE 100 reaching its highest level since early January.
Boosted by a positive reaction on Wall Street to the US jobs numbers the 100 index closed up 128.2 points at 6215.5.
This all seemed pretty unlikely earlier this week, with the index struggling to move significantly in either direction.
Retailers rose on the hope that consumers would spend this Bank Holiday, while miners were lifted by talk of a break-up of Rio Tinto, up 270p to £61.06, if predator BHP Billiton fails to come up with a satisfactory offer.
But Capital & Regional, which specialises in retail property funds, slumped another 67p to 309.75p. After the market closed yesterday the company admitted that it was close to breaching a key covenant related to its Mall fund.
