LONDON'S top flight index capped off a torrid week of trading with a 3% rise, as it rallied back from Thursday's three-and-a-half-year low.
The FTSE 100 Index surged 170.6 points to 5707.6, as an 8% leap in the price of Brent crude bolstered oil stocks.
The oil price was up close to 2.5 dollars to 32.5 US dollars per barrel, triggered by mounting speculation that members of the Opec oil cartel were ready to negotiate over possible production cuts.
BP was up 7% or 22.5p to 332.5p, Royal Dutch Shell up 80.5p to 1526p and oil and gas explorer BG Group rose 42p to 1062p.
The cheer from the oil price also spread to mining stocks, with Anglo American surging 18% or 58p to 373.9p.
A rebound for banking stocks - which plunged into red in three sessions this week - drove the recovery across European markets, with Germany's Dax and the Cac 40 in France both up more than 2%.
The resurgence was led by Germany's Commerzbank, which has announced its first dividend since 2007, helping its shares rise more than 16%.
Deutsche Bank's stocks also leapt more than 11% after the German lender said it would buy back more than 5 billion US dollars (£3.8 billion) worth of its own bonds.
Shares in the Frankfurt-based lender rallied back from a 30-year low on Wednesday amid reports it had moved to strengthen its balance sheet with an emergency bond buyback plan.
UK banking stocks also made gains after a tumultuous week in the markets where investors lost confidence in heavyweight financial institutions fearing their vulnerability to a slowdown in global growth.
Standard Chartered climbed 10.9% or 42.3p to 429p, Barclays was up 9.3p to 157.2p and Lloyds Banking Group grew 2.4p to 58.4p.
The pound was up against the euro at 1.28, as economic data in Germany suggested it was edging towards its first quarterly slowdown in annual growth since the second quarter of 2014.
The pound was marginally down against the dollar at 1.44 following the announcement that US retail sales had improved last month.
The markets appeared to shrug off news from the Office for National Statistics that Britain's construction output had slipped in the final three months of last year, despite an upsurge in activity in December.
In stocks, engine-maker Rolls-Royce saw shares surge more than 14% or 76p to 606p, as its fall in profits was better than analysts had expected.
Its annual profits tumbled 12% to £1.4 billion as the business was hit by civil aerospace cuts and falling commodity prices that have affected output at its marine division, which supplies the oil industry.
It also confirmed it would cut its dividend by half to 7.1p a share, as it bids to conserve cash.
Fashion chain Superdry saw its stock value come under pressure after its founder announced he had sold just under £50 million of shares to fund his divorce.
Julian Dunkerton completed the sale of four million shares on Thursday night at around £12 each to raise £48 million, Superdry owner SuperGroup confirmed.
Shares fell 1.5% or 20p to 1309p.
The biggest risers in the FTSE 100 Index were Anglo American up 58p to 373.9p, Rolls-Royce up 76p to 606p, Glencore up 10.7p to 98.4p and Antofagasta up 43p to 433.3p.
The biggest fallers in the FTSE 100 Index were Tesco down 2.6p to 177p, Hikma Pharmaceuticals down 25p to 1850p, Imperial Brands down 34p to 3553.5p and BT Group down 2.2p to 448.2p
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