LONDON: Britain's top share index recouped some of the previous session's losses on Friday as investors looked for bargains among some of the safer stocks and some positive chart signals lured technical traders.
The FTSE 100 was up 55.26 points, or 0.9 percent, to 6,214.77 by 1049 GMT.
It had shed 189 points in its worst session in 1-1/2 years on Thursday, spooked by news that the US Federal Reserve was planning to scale back its asset purchase programme, which has helped drive a 30 percent rally in the FTSE in the year to May.
Food and beverages multinational groups SAB Miller and Diageo, which offer relatively resilient earnings and tend to outperform falling markets, gained 3 percent and 2.5 percent in volume, already higher than their full-session average for the past 90 days.
"After yesterday's sharp fall in equity prices, this morning has been fairly calm," Ronnie Chopra, strategist at TradeNext said.
"The FTSE 100 below 6,200 (attracted) buyers into the market for multi-national shares."
The FTSE 100 closed just off its intra-day low and above its 200-day moving average on Thursday, signalling support for the index and attracting technical traders.
The gauge extended gains in mid-morning trade on Friday, breaking above the key 6,200 points mark, which coincides with the index's low last week, as the June futures and options contracts expired.
Data from derivatives exchange NYSE Liffe showed open interest, the total number of existing options on a security, was highest at 6,200 points, meaning a number of traders were forced to adjust their holdings in the FTSE around that level.
The UK index was still set to record its fifth consecutive weekly loss, its longest losing streak since 2011.
A rise in implied volatility in recent days showed investors were growing more nervous in light of increasing stress in the Chinese financial system and emerging markets at large at a time when withdrawal of Fed support is in prospect.
"There seem to be a lot of potential issues lying ahead especially with China, so we might get a small rally today, but I don't think this correction is over yet," Dermot Corrigan, head of options trading firm Qubed Derivatives, said.
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