= MARKET COMMENT: London Stocks Close Up On Friends Provident

By Sarah Turner

LONDON (Dow Jones)--Friends Provident shares stood out in London on Monday, rising sharply after the insurer and financial-services firm rebuffed buyout group Resolution's approach.

Shares of Friends Provident climbed 12.6% to 68 pence within the FTSE 100 index , London's top share benchmark.

The gains came after Resolution said an initial approach for the Friends Provident was rejected by the latter's board.

Resolution said that it's considering its response and that, while its offer wasn't considered acceptable, it received "constructive feedback" from the Friends Provident board.

Resolution shares lost 2.8% outside the top index.

"It is probably not too surprising it chose to reject such an approach, but investors seem to think that this story may not yet be over yet," said David Jones, chief market strategist at IG Index, referring to Friends Provident.

The rest of the British life-insurance sector was also on the move, with shares of Aviva gaining 7.4% and Standard Life adding 5.4%.

Broadly, the FTSE 100 index gained 1.8% to 4,202.13. Other European shares also finished in the green.

Oil producers also supported the top index, with BP (BP) shares up 2.2% and Royal Dutch Shell shares up 2%.

On the downside, shares of Experian declined 0.4% as the credit-check agency said revenue for the three months ended June 30 fell 8% in part due to exchange rates.

More potential deals

Shares of natural-gas producer Venture Production rose 5.5% to 229 pence.

Two of the firm's shareholders said that the shares are worth at least 1,000 pence each or significantly more than the 845 pence a share offered by suitor Centrica .

ArcLight Capital Partners and co-founder Larry Kinch both issued statements saying the Centrica offer, worth 1.3 billion pounds, was too low after Venture Production rejected the offer over the weekend.

Centrica's shares rose 2.8%.

Still in the energy sector, shares of Emerald Energy rallied 12.8% to 632 pence.

The oil and gas exploration and production company said it has received an approach from a third party interested in making a possible cash offer.

Emerald Energy said that discussions are at a preliminary stage and that no assurances can be given that a formal offer will be forthcoming.

Shares of commercial television broadcaster ITV jumped more than 7% after UBS upgraded the firm to buy.

"While we believe the shares are fully discounting regulatory benefits and a cyclical recovery, we see strategic upside from a subscription model, the value of which could be enhanced by Ofcom's pay TV market review," said the broker.

Services Desk; Dow Jones Newswires; [phone]/9274