Market report: Friday close

BANKING stocks moved back into favour as investors digested recent earnings statements.

Lloyds TSB gained 25 1/2p to 705 1/2p on volume of nearly 36m shares, while Abbey National put on 5 1/2p to 958 1/2p and HBOS gained 12p to 753p.

Chemicals group ICI continued its revival, collecting 17p to 302p after a US court dismissed a lead-in-paint lawsuit against the group's US subsidiary Glidden. The stock has been rallying in fits and starts since last autumn, when it hit a low of 231 1/4p.

A strong start on Wall Street helped the broader market, the Footsie climbing 68 points to 5169 with the other indices also in positive territory. Next Wednesday's quarterly review of Footsie membership was a focus, with a bunch of golden oldies in the running for a return to the elite club.

Corus, the former British Steel, was up 3 1/2p to 85 1/2p, transport firm Exel gained 10p to 785p, food packager Bunzl rose 18p to 521p and engineering group GKN advanced 3p to 297p. Also making a push for promotion was mortgage specialist Bradford & Bingley, up 3p to 312p.

Those in danger of ejection were also under scrutiny. Computer services provider Logica rallied 19p to 404p, biotech drug developer Celltech slipped 22 1/2p to 672 1/2p and electronic parts distributor Electrocomponents dropped 1p to 496p.

British Airways, up 13 1/2p to 217p, and electricity provider International Power, unchanged at 180p, are also in danger of relegation and will be doing everything they can to boost their share price and market value enough to retain their Footsie status. Tuesday's closing price will decide their fate.

In the lower divisions, fallen telco star Energis, off 0.02p to 3.5p, is set to drop out of the FTSE 250.

Shire Pharmaceuticals recouped 5p to 525p as the City decided the sell-off of the previous session had been overdone. The stock fell more than 30% on Thursday, wiping more than £1bn from its market value following a warning on growth this year. It would need to fall to about 450p to face relegation.

Broker Teather & Greenwood called the stock a 'strong buy' and said it was 'substantially undervalued' at Thursday's closing price. Goldman Sachs was less enthusiastic, downgrading the group to 'market perform' from its 'recommended' list.

JP Morgan cut its price target to 350p from 400p for Scottish Power to reflect higher debt and the shares slipped 10p to 417p.

Builder Alfred McAlpine added 20p to 445p on news of its acquisition of Stiell for £85m, a buy that will boost its support services division.

Prices and indices in this section are supplied from various sources and calculated at different times and may not always match those listed on the site.

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Today's gainers and fallers

The Daily Mail's Geoff Foster on yesterday's trade