Investors were cheered by a steadier session for the FTSE 100 Index, despite two profit warnings and further jitters for supermarket stocks.
Fears that demand will be hit by rising interest rates in the United States have stalled the recent progress of stock markets, with London's top flight rising just 9.7 points to 6649.4 after heavy losses this week.
The pound was down slightly against the dollar, at 1.63, despite governor Mark Carney saying on Thursday the Bank of England was also getting nearer to raising interest rates. Sterling was higher against the euro, at 1.28.
The focus of the session was on Sainsbury's ahead of its trading update next week.
The recent spate of profit warnings continued as De La Rue lost more than a quarter of its value as it warned that profits will slump by £20 million in the current financial year due to deteriorating trading conditions. The Basingstoke-based firm said demand from overseas customers for biometric passports has been disappointing. Shares fell 255.3p to 504p.
The prospect of higher interest rates and a deeper price war raised fresh concerns over the profitability of the supermarket sector, with Sainsbury's the biggest faller in the top flight down 7.9p to 250.1p and Morrison s off 3.1p at 171p.
Sainsbury's stepped up competition in the sector by vowing to lower the regular cost of its groceries and simplify its brand match scheme.
The supermarket will post its second quarter trading next week and brokers at Shore Capital expect like-for-like sales to fall by between 3.5 per cent and four per cent as a result of the ongoing supermarket price war.
And Shanks fell by more than 12 per cent, or 12.6p to 90p, after the Milton Keynes-based business, which operates waste treatment facilities for UK councils, warned over strong competition in the construction sector in the Netherlands. Annual profits will be £15m lower than forecast.
Back in the top flight, chip designer Arm Holdings fought back from the weak start seen after tech giant Apple dropped sharply on Wall Street due to its decision to pull an update to its iOS 8 operating system. Shares in Cambridge-based Arm, whose designs power many Apple products, closed up 15p to 919p.
Lloyds Banking Group's stake in TSB Banking Group has been cut to 50 per cent after its sale of shares in the lender raised £161 million. The placing of 11.5 per cent of stock with institutional investors came three months after Lloyds floated TSB. Shares in Lloyds lifted 0.5p to 76.7p, and TSB was unchanged at 280p.
The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 Index were easyJet up 43p at 1393p, St James's Place up 20p at 739p, British Land up 14.5p at 706p and Fresnillo up 13.5p at 761.5p.
Fallers were Sainsbury's down 7.9p at 250.1p, Sport Direct down 17p at 620.5p, Imperial Tobacco down 48p at 2647p and Morrisons.
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