Financials, Miners Pull FTSE Up 1.7 Pct Early

By 0905 GMT, the FTSE 100 index was 61.14 points higher at 3,773.20, after closing up 18.25 points, or 0.5 percent in the previous session.

Britain's leading index gained 1.7 percent in early deals on Friday, tracking strong gains in U.S. and Asian markets overnight, with financials higher on enhanced hopes U.S. banks will survive without nationalisation.

By 0905 GMT, the FTSE 100 index was 61.14 points higher at 3,773.20, after closing up 18.25 points, or 0.5 percent in the previous session.

"America was strong last night, Asia was strong this morning, so the UK is just following through from that and it is driven by financials and mining," said Jonathan Jackson, head of equities, Killik & Co.

UK banks tracked a strong recovery by their U.S. peers, with Barclays, Royal Bank of Scotland, Lloyds Banking Group, HSBC and Standard Chartered all up between 1.7 and 7.5 percent.

Citigroup told Reuters the bank does not need any more emergency cash from Washington and expects to stay private, while Bank of America said it was profitable in January and February, easing fears about further instability in the banking industry and sparking a rush back into equities.

Japan, meanwhile, will inject $1.2 billion into three local banks, its first handout of public money since the start of the global financial crisis.

Among other financials, insurers rallied, with Standard Life , up 3.6 percent, benefitting from Thursday's results once again, while Legal & General, Old Mutual and Prudential took on between 5.2 and 7.5 percent.

COMMODITIES SHINE

Heavyweight miners were strong blue chip performers as base metal prices rose on hopes for a demand recovery in China.

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao reassured the world that he would deliver on a promise of 8 percent growth in 2009 and might roll out extra stimulus spending if needed to meet the goal.

Xstrata was a top FTSE 100 riser, up 8.5 percent, while BHP Billiton, Rio Tinto, Anglo American, Vedanta Resources and Kazakhmys gained between 2.1 and 4.4 percent.

Oil majors moved higher as the price of crude held steady at around $46.50 a barrel, with BP, BG Group and Royal Dutch Shell up 0.6 to 0.7 percent.

A U.S. judge on Thursday approved BP's agreement to pay $50 million -- the largest U.S. criminal environmental fine ever -- after pleading guilty to charges stemming from a 2005 explosion that killed 15 workers at a Texas refinery.

Amec was the top blue chip faller, shedding 2.8 percent as Citigroup cut its rating to "hold" from "buy" following the oil services firm's full-year results on Thursday.

There were only four other blue chip fallers, including Friends Provident impacted by profit-taking after strong gains on Thursday.

On the second line, pubs operator JD Wetherspoon added 10.8 percent after it reported steady first-half results, leading Altium to hike its rating to "buy" from "hold".

With no domestic data due for release Friday, investors were looking ahead to the University of Michigan consumer sentiment survey to show signs of recovery in the United States.

Investors also hoped for strong signals from this weekend's G20 meeting of finance minsters and central bankers regarding plans to tackle the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.

Bank of England policymaker Kate Barker said Britain's economy looks like it will shrink even faster than the central bank forecast only last month, but the recovery could be sharp, forcing a swift unwinding of stimulus.