The FTSE 100 is projected to rise marginally in early trade after closing flat on Thursday.
Government services company Serco Group (LON:SRP) led the blue chips with a 4.1% gain.
Engineering company GKN (LON:GKN) followed, rising 3%.
Financial Times publisher Pearson (LON:PSON) and retailer Marks & Spencer (LON:MKS) tacked on almost 2%.
Miners Antofagasta (LON:ANTO) and Fresnillo (LON:FRES) were at the bottom of the pile with losses of about 2%.
US stocks were on the rise yesterday. The Dow Jones Industrial Average advanced 0.35%, the S&P 500 index added 0.6% and the NASDAQ composite climbed 0.75%.
In Asia, China’s Shanghai Composite Index declined 0.4% and Hong Kong’s Hang Seng was down 0.2%, while South Korea’s KOSPI advanced 0.85% and Japan’s Nikkei 225 held steady.
Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 retreated 0.45%.
Commodities
Oil prices moved higher. US light, sweet crude for January delivery reached US$88.25/barrel.
Precious metals rose. Gold and silver advanced to US$1,374/oz and US$29.07/oz. Platinum climbed to US$1,701/oz.
Base metals followed. Copper and nickel rose to US$4.14/lb and US$11.19/lb. Zinc reached US$1.03/lb.
No significant macroeconomic updates are due to be released today.