Market report: Friday close

LONDON equities soared after the latest employment figures from the US confirmed its economy appears to be on track for recovery.

Wall Street advanced on the back of the figures too before treading water, with the blue-chip Dow Jones advancing a steady 9 points to 9866 early on.

Financials dominated in London, with fund managers Amvescap putting on 4 1/2p to close at 423p, and Man Group, up 39p to 1470p. Insurance giant Legal & General rose
3 1/2p to 107 1/4p.

The euphoria even spread to Cable & Wireless, the FTSE 100's biggest riser with a 5 1/4p gain to 134 1/4p despite US investment house Goldman Sachs slashing its earnings per share forecast for the telecoms group by 57%, concentrating on its US problems.

Manufacturers such as GKN, up 8p to
286 3/4p, and Tomkins, 11p firmer at
288 1/2p, also shared in the advance.

The rally spread to second-liners with British Airways showing a 10 3/4p gain to 224p on the prospect of more business travellers crossing the Atlantic in a revived economy. The FTSE 100 index closed 52.7 points or 1.2% higher at 4376.9, just shy of a three-week high of 4,389.2 and back within range of 4,400 points, a level it has not crossed since late August last year.

Housebuilders remained firm, led by Persimmon, up 7p to 481 1/2pp, and Bovis Homes, 8p stronger at 424p. Consolidation hopes in the sector outweighed any fears of a collapse in housing demand prompted by rising interest rates.

The roasting given to Boots executives, accused of being introspective and leaden-footed by new chief executive Richard Baker, yielded a positive response from Deutsche Bank which promptly removed the shares from its sell list to hold.

The Germans have set a new target of 650p from 550p, which today helped lift Boots 2p to 712p

EasyJet flew ahead 4 1/2p to 281 1/2p as passenger numbers for the low-cost airline increased 17.8% in the year to October. Rival Ryanair stalled with shares down to a 12-month low of 6.9p, down 0.06p, following figures earlier this week showing an 11,300 reduction in passenger numbers in October.

EMI slipped 2p to 175p as Sony Music's link-up with Bertelsmann turned the market's focus on it making a bid for Warner Music.

Among mid-caps, MFI enjoyed a 7% rise to 156 1/2p, a gain of 10 3/4p, on the back of Deutsche Bank adding Britain's biggest furniture group to its prestigious European Mid Cap Focus List. The Germans have set a target price of 235p.

Despite research showing cannabis-based drugs are not that effective in treating MS and other painful diseases, GW Pharmaceuticals - which only yesterday announced a deal with partner Bayer Healthcare for marketing its cannabis-based Sativex in Canada - added 2 1/2p to 211p.

Celltech has had no fewer than three drug failures in the past 18 months and its hopes now rest with its treatment for rheumatoid arthritis. The market turned positive on its shares, up 10p to 435 3/4p.

The e5.5m (£3.8m) cash purchase by Gyrus of a German surgical instruments distributor lifted it 2 1/2p to 187 1/2p.