TOP shares in London recovered some of the losses they had incurred earlier in the week on Friday, despite a slow start to the day as the market failed to open on time.
The FTSE 100 closed 50.14 points, or 0.71%, higher at 7,117.15.
It followed two days of major losses amid growing fears of a global recession.
The mood had brightened by the end of the week following positive retail sales data from the US.
London's blue-chip index opened later than usual in the morning, following technical difficulties at the London Stock Exchange which made for a 100-minute delay.
David Cheetham, chief market analyst at XTB, said: "The only real difference with opening later is that those who wanted to execute on the open have been delayed.
"Given that most of Europe is trading higher, the market in London has begun brightly so those wanting to buy may be ruing having to pay a higher price for certain securities than if they were able to trade on the open."
Meanwhile the FTSE's European peers charged ahead, with the German Dax and French Cac up 1.31% and 1.22% respectively.
Connor Campbell, financial analyst at Spreadex, said: "The UK index could have perhaps kept pace with its peers if it wasn't for the pound, which is desperately clinging to its hopes that a rebellious cross-party group of MPs can derail Boris Johnson's no-deal Brexit plans."
Sterling was 0.59% higher on the US dollar at 1.215 and up 0.71% versus the euro to 1.095.
Oil prices had been shaken by talk of recession in global markets, but managed to inch higher on Friday.
A barrel of Brent crude oil was trading 0.48% higher at $58.62.
In company news, Ted Baker announced it would be ditching Debenhams to sign up its high street rival Next as a partner for selling its children's range of clothing and accessories.
Shares in both Ted Baker and Next were relatively flat following the announcement, dipping 2p to 901.5p and 18p to 5,622p respectively.
Struggling car dealer Pendragon continued the sell-off of its US showrooms with the sale of its Chevrolet dealership in Puente Hills, California.
Shares fell 0.28p to 10.46p.
Renshaw owner Real Good Food said losses before tax widened to £26.09 million in the year to March 31, compared with £9.08m in the previous year.
Its shares were down 0.5p to 6.75p.
Shares in the London Stock Exchange Group lifted 130p to 6,852p despite the morning's technical hiccup.
Fiona Cincotta, senior market analyst at City Index said it was an "embarrassment" for the group and raised questions over its technology.
"The timing is pretty horrendous for LSE, just weeks after it sealed a deal to buy Refinitiv, in its quest to become a global markets and information powerhouse," she said.
The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were ITV up 3.3p to 106.9p, Sainsbury's up 5.4p to 182.5p, St James's Place up 25.4p to 940p and Smurfit Kappa Group up 62p to 2,434p.
The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were Fresnillo down 7.6p to 663.6p, Prudential down 14.5p to 1,415.5p, BHP Group down 17.4p to 1,755.2p and United Utilities Group down 7.6p to 781.6p.
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