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LONDON, Feb 11 (AFP): Britain's corporate earnings season is set over the coming days to occupy the minds of investors, looking to propel the London stock market after a steady week.
On Friday, the FTSE 100 index of leading shares closed at 5,764.1 points, a gain of 0.08 percent or 4.8 points from the previous week.
The market had this week again nudged above 5,800 points to levels last seen in the summer of 2001.
London's stock market is currently gaining support from strong company results and takeover news.
British pharmaceuticals giant GlaxoSmithKline on Wednesday posted a 13-percent jump in 2005 pre-tax profits to 6.732 billion pounds (9.805 billion euros, 11.724 billion dollars), compared with the previous year.
The same day, Reckitt Benckiser, the Anglo-Dutch consumer goods giant, reported a 16-percent rise in annual net profit to 669 million pounds, helped by strong sales of new cleaning products.
And aerospace giant Rolls-Royce registered a record number of orders last year, when sales grew by 11 percent to 6.603 billion pounds.
Energy groups BP and Royal Dutch Shell this month each posted annual net profits of above 22 billion dollars following record high oil prices in 2005.
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