LONDON (ShareCast) - UK stocks were retained gains on Friday, buoyed by higher commodity prices and data revealing the US remained in deflation last month.
Sector-wise gains made by miners, engineers and telecoms stocks outweighed weakness in technology and travel stocks.
As of 15:30 BST, the FTSE 250 was trading 68 points higher at 18,223.
Just Eat surged after closing the books on its £445m placing and open offer for Australian takeaway business Munlog late on Thursday.
Dairy Crest rebounded from Thursday's losses, which came as the group's annual pre-tax profits plunged, dragged lower by its dairy division.
Howden Joinery Group was boosted by an upgrade from analysts at Jeffires to 'buy'.
Keller continued higher on Thursday's agreement to buy the net assets of GeoConstruction Group from Layne Christensen Company for a consideration of about $40m. "The acquisition will strengthen Keller's product range and its ability to offer complete packaged solutions both in North America and elsewhere," the company said in a statement.
Mining stocks were snapped up, with Vedanta Resources, Kaz Minerals and Evraz all on the rise as metal prices advanced.
Greencore Group reversed from Thursday's gains, which were driven by Berenberg Bank raising its price target on the stock from 350p to 390p.
Risers
Just Eat (JE.) 456.50p +5.28%
Zoopla Property Group (WI) (ZPLA) 231.10p +3.54%
Dairy Crest Group (DCG) 502.00p +3.06%
Halfords Group (HFD) 489.90p +2.70%
Fidelity China Special Situations (FCSS) 173.50p +2.60%
Bank of Georgia Holdings (BGEO) 1,942.00p +2.16%
COLT Group SA (COLT) 152.20p +2.15%
Interserve (IRV) 627.50p +2.12%
Howden Joinery Group (HWDN) 511.00p +2.10%
Tullett Prebon (TLPR) 392.50p +2.05%
Fallers
Ophir Energy (OPHR) 133.40p -2.70%
Premier Oil (PMO) 165.60p -2.59%
Greencore Group (GNC) 345.50p -2.10%
Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 1,175.00p -2.00%
Telecom Plus (TEP) 841.50p -1.81%
Computacenter (CCC) 717.00p -1.65%
Poundland Group (PLND) 316.00p -1.65%
Playtech (PTEC) 830.00p -1.54%
Cairn Energy (CNE) 173.10p -1.48%
PayPoint (PAY) 892.00p -1.33%
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