London shares end on high note

London shares have ended the week on a high note despite bad news from overseas.

By the close of trading, the FTSE-100 Index was up 24.3 points at 5427.2 - below highs of 5469 hit mid-morning as tech stocks surged ahead.

It marks the end of a torrid week for the market, which has shed 120 points since last Friday.

Shares have mainly been hit by events in the US, where beleaguered tech and telecom stocks slid on Thursday, taking their lead from a dive in the US on Wednesday night.

US shares were under pressure on further worries about company earnings, while economic figures showed the US producer price index fell below analysts' forecasts.

In the UK, tech stocks, which had started the day surging ahead, fell back.

Telecom equipment group Spirent slid 4½p to 163½p, Energis fell 2½p to 97p and Marconi was off 1¾p to 85¾p. Vodafone was down a penny at 137p, Cable & Wireless was unchanged at 335p, while BT managed to stay ahead, up 11p at 460p and Colt Telecom was ahead a marginal 2p at 302p.

Tech stocks on the way down included software firm Sage, off 4¾p at 214¼p, computer services group Logica, down 7½p at 662p and chip designer Arm, 5p lower at 282p.

As techs fell, supermarkets and retailers rose. Safeway sparked 4p to 357p, Morrison jumped 7½p to 205p and Sainsbury was up 2p at 393p.

On the high street, Marks & Spencer rose 3p to 249p, Boots put on 7½p to 659½p, Argos-to-Burberry group GUS was up 8p at 590p and Dixons jumped 4¾p to 226½p.