More soothing data from across the Atlantic, showing a drop in US producer prices and reducing the chances of a shock half-point hike in borrowing costs from the Federal Reserve next week, ensured that London traders were in relatively up-beat mood.
What is more, a strong bounce on the Nasdaq growth market helped the technology, media and telecoms stocks over here. So, by the close in London, the FTSE 100 index was showing a 37.6 point rise to 6283.5, having dipped as low as 6220 early in the day, while the Techmark 100 was showing a 66.99 point advance to 3463.54.
Big tech stocks on the move included fibre optics specialist Bookham Technology , the market newcomer that looks headed for the Footsie when the constituents committee meets in early June. Shares put on 287.5p to £39.37 after their recent pause.
BATM Advanced Communications was also in demand, rising 212.5p to £42.00. Back in mid-March BATM stock reached as high as £73.50, but it has been slow to bounce back.
Kingston Communications , which some market followers had suggested might be facing demotion from the Footsie, turned in a sharp and very sudden bounce, with shares ending the day 56p higher at 688p. Against this, reassessment of Colt Telecom's first quarter figures reported last Thursday drew out a few more sellers, sending the price down another 57p to £22.10, against an early-March high of £40.73.
Also, engineering group Laird reported a mixed start to trading in the current year, with profits down 10% during the first four months. The company pointed to the strength of sterling, while the market responded by slicing 15% from the shares, down 37.5p at 210p.
At the lower end of corporate scale, the bloodbath in insurance management group Helphire continued, with the shares losing another 40.5p to 75p.
The company has been hit by a House of Lords ruling that credit car hire agreements could be exempt from the Consumer Credit Act.
Retail Decision , a specialist in dealing with credit card fraud, jumped 26p to 130p. Dealers reported demand from amateur speculators in the wake of this week's news of the company's expansion into South Africa.
