The FTSE 100 share index rose 55.8 points on Friday to 5,947.1 (up 1 per cent).

Banks Alliance & Leicester and Lloyds TSB dropped 0.5 and 1.1 per cent respectively.

Pharmaceutical companies did well with Shire up 0.9 per cent, GlaxoSmithKline up 1.3 per cent and Astrazeneca rising 2.9 per cent.

Commodities also did well with miners Antofagasta and Rio Tinto up 4 and 4.6 per cent respectively.

Oil companies also rose with BP and Royal Dutch Shell rising over 1 per cent each.

The big winner of the day however was British Energy which rose 7.3 per cent after French media said that EDF had decided to launch a takeover bid for the company. British Energy has not commented on the news.

Ftse