FTSE 100 up 0.4% | Vodafone adds over 10 points to index's advance | Dixons Carphone and Travis Perkins also get upgrades | Severn Trent dips after results
Britain's top share index rose on Friday and was set to end the week on a positive footing after telecoms company Vodafone extended a recent rally driven by merger speculation.
Vodafone rose 4%, following upgrades from Citi and Deutsche Bank.
Both notes cited comments earlier in the week from Liberty Global chairman John Malone that Vodafone would be a "great fit" for the company.
Vodafone is up 11% since Wednesday. Goldman Sachs said that following an investor meeting on Thursday, it believed the company was considering a range of ways of options.
"There is significant industrial logic in fixed/mobile M&A on a market-by-market basis," analysts at Goldman said in a note, reiterating a "buy" rating on the stock.
"(Vodafone) is willing to consider both acquisitions and disposals where the financial rationale makes sense."
Vodafone added over 10 points to the FTSE 100, which was up by 27.38 points, or 0.4%, at 7,040.85 by 0749 GMT.
The FTSE 100 is now up 1.1% this week, set for its biggest weekly gain in over a month.
However, it remains 1.2% away from an all time high hit in April, and has been in a tight 350 point trading range since late January.
Precious metals miners Anglo American and Fresnillo both gained around 1.2%, boosted by a recovery in the gold price from recent lows.
Although set for its biggest weekly drop in a month, the price of gold rose 0.6% on Friday.
Electronics retailer Dixons Carphone rose 1.5% and housebuilder Travis Perkins was up 0.9%, benefitting from upgrades to target prices from Deutsche Bank and Jefferies respectively.
Among fallers, British water supplier Severn Trent edged 0.8% lower after results. Although it reported a 3.2% rise in underlying full-year profit, profit before tax fell by over 50%.
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