BRUSSELS/FRANKFURT/PARIS (dpa-AFX) - U.K. stocks advanced on Friday, with banks and commodity-related stocks leading the surge despite worries about higher U.S. interest rates and the Ukraine conflict.
The benchmark FTSE 100 was up 70 points, or 0.9 percent, at 7,622 after losing half a percent on Thursday.
Higher crude prices helped lift energy stocks, with BP plc climbing 2.6 percent and Royal Dutch Shell adding 3 percent.
Mining giant BHP rose over 2 percent after issuing an update on BHP Petroleum and Woodside merger. Peers Anglo American and Antofagasta were up around 2 percent.
Sound Energy, an upstream gas company, plunge nearly 8 percent. The company said that it has decided not to make an offer to buy Angus Energy Plc, a British onshore oil and gas firm, after due diligence review process.
Banks Lloyds Bank and HSBC Holdings were up over 1 percent each.
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