LONDON MARKETS: British Shares Hit Fresh 2009 High

By Sarah Turner

British shares rose for the fourth day in a row on Friday, with investors notably buying up oil majors, as hopes for a recovery in the global economy continued to grow.

The U.K. FTSE 100 index rose 2%, or 94.31 points, to 4,850.89, a level not seen since last October.

Gains were modest in early trading but picked up through the session as investors eyed data that fed into hopes for a continued improvement in the global economic backdrop.

A closely watched gauge of economic activity across the 16-nation euro-zone private sector posted a record jump on Friday, as purchasing managers signaled that the region's battered economy stabilized in August.

Of companies advancing notably in London, airline British Airways climbed 7.4% and oil major Royal Dutch Shell saw its shares advance 3%.

BP shares rose 2.2% as light sweet crude-oil futures surged.

In a stronger financial sector, insurers Aviva , up 5.3%, and Legal & General , up 5.7%, both advanced.

"We believe Legal & General has been overlooked: in our view, its gearing alone should be enough to see it recover from 14-year lows if the market continues to rise," said Goldman Sachs analysts in a note on the sector.

"L&G is on the Conviction Buy List. As we return to more normal investment conditions, we anticipate far less investment variances. This, we believe, will enable the market to focus on L&G's cash-generating ability," the broker added.

Birmingham City gets takeover bid

Outside the top index, shares of soccer club owner Birmingham City soared 41% to 91 pence per share.

An investment vehicle run by Hong Kong businessman Carson Yeung on Friday made a bid of 81.5 million pounds ($134 million) to buy the firm.

Grandtop made an offer of 100 pence per share in cash.

Additionally, property Web site operator Rightmove saw its shares jump 17.9%.

First-half profit rose to 13 million pounds, from 12.6 million pounds at the same point a year ago, helped by cost cutting. It said that it's confident of exceeding market expectations for 2009.

"Revenue is in line, but good cost control means a significant beat at the earnings per share level," said analysts at Investec Securities.

Shares of BBA Aviation climbed 1.9% after it was upgraded to hold from sell by Citigroup on Friday.

The broker said that, after robust trading in the first-half of 2009 and strong cash generation, it believes the company's financial position looks more secure and trading is near a trough.