FTSE up 0.31% on open

London shares rose on opening Friday after growing optimism overnight spurred by upbeat US data and fresh support for the euro from Germany.

The FTSE 100 index of leading shares gained 0.31 percent to 5,852,62 points.

Elsewhere, Frankfurt's blue-chip DAX index rose above the psychological level of 7,000 points -- opening at 7,011.37 points, a gain of 15.08 points or 0.21 percent from the closing level on Thursday.

It had broken briefly through the 7,000-point level the day before for the first time since early April.

In Paris the CAC 40 won 0.35 percent to 3,492.81 at Friday's open.

Sentiment was buoyed by German Chancellor Angela Merkel who on Thursday gave solid backing to European Central Bank chief Mario Draghi's recent vow to do everything possible to defend the single currency.

US data on new jobless claims and housing construction, which provided more evidence that the world's biggest economy is growing steadily if slowly, also cheered markets.

Weekly numbers for new unemployment insurance claims, an indicator of the pace of layoffs, came in as expected and in the same range as the past four months, while July data on new housing construction, although slightly down from June, showed an industry steadily picking up pace.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/ftse-0-31-open-075542066.html

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