Britain's leading shares trekked higher on Friday, putting the FTSE 100 index on course for its biggest weekly gain in nearly eight months as miners and oil stocks charged higher.

Vedanta topped the leaderboard, up 3.4 percent as Deutsche raised its price target on the India-focused miner and as resources stocks generally climbed along with the market. Antofagasta and Kazakhmys were up over 2 percent each and oil titan BP added 1 percent as crude prices climbed towards $74 a barrel.

Fund managers Amvescap and Man Group also stepped into the spotlight with gains of over 2 percent as investors zeroed in on financials on hopes they would benefit from stabilising equity markets.

Sentiment towards stocks was helped in particular by a decision to raise U.S. interest rates by a widely expected 25 basis points - not a larger hike as some analysts had feared - and by softer rhetoric from the Federal Reserve about the possible need for further interest rate increases.

By 1033 GMT, the FTSE 100 index was up 48.7 points at 5,840.2 - off a session peak of 5,853.2 points but still heading for a gain of well over 2 percent on the week, potentially its biggest since early November. Miners and oils led the charge, accounting for about half of the move, followed by drugs and banks.

As long as we keep up the flow of big corporate activity then probably the market can perform reasonably well. I don't see it roaring ahead because we got a bit overbought and we all found at that time it was difficult to find things to buy on valuation grounds but having had that fall, there are a few things that have fallen that have yet to recover, one dealer said.

I think we might get into a bit of trading range and whether we might see 6,000 towards the end of the summer, it must be a possibility. Corporate activity is going to be the key.

Market watchers said volumes could be relatively quiet, however, as the Wimbledon tennis tournament and soccer World Cup continue. Total turnover was 908 million shares by mid-morning.

SABMILLER CHEERS

Shares in drinks maker SABMiller added 2.7 percent, outperforming the stronger market as dealers said the stock had recently lagged behind its peers.

The stock's been underperforming since the rand capitulated and got weak against the dollar. They got to such a level where they were at a massive discount to the sector. As we've had a bit of a rally in the market it's highlighted the value against its peers, one trader said.

Elsewhere among gainers, Brambles added 2.6 percent after selling its waste management arm for a higher-than-expected 595 million pounds.

Premier Oil stood out among mid-caps, rising 2 percent after saying it had found oil and gas at a Vietnam well,

But no-frills airline easyJet lost 1.4 percent after a downgrade to underweight from HSBC and telecoms equipment testing company Spirent dropped as Goldman Sachs added the stock to its sell list.

United kingdom Ftse