Gains from market heavyweight Vodafone and stronger banks and commodity stocks helped drag Britain's top share index higher on Friday, although gains were capped by some caution ahead of a key U.S. jobs report, and a big batch of euro zone data, according to Reuters. At 0926 GMT, the FTSE 100 index was up 12.09 points, or 0.2 percent at 5,636.35, recovering after a 0.8 percent fall on Thursday, albeit in low volumes at just under 10 percent of the 90-day moving average. "A quiet start as traders sit back and wait for key data from the euro zone, with Italian yields above 7 percent again the jitters remain," said Mic Mills, head of electronic dealing at ETX Capital. "But most focus will be on the U.S. non-farm payrolls this afternoon which may well reverse the enthusiasm of yesterday's ADP jobs number." Euro zone December ecconomic, industrial, and services confidence data, together with November retail sales and unemployment numbers will all be released at 1000 GMT. Domestic British banks rallied after recent falls on fears over recapitalisation moves by European lenders exposed to the euro zone debt crisis, with part-state-owned Lloyds Banking Group in the vanguard, up 1.3 percent. Integrated oils provided a big boost for the FTSE 100 index as Brent crude prices extended recent gains on worries over a demand squeeze amid mounting tensions between Iran and the West. Mobile phones giant Vodafone added the most points to the blue chip index, with the stock up 2.0 percent as Goldman Sachs upgraded its rating to "buy" from "neutral", with the bank anticipating U.S. venture Verizon Wireless to lift Vodafone's free cash flow above 10 billion pounds.
