British Airways and insurers, such as Prudential led the FTSE 100 higher on Friday to seal the index's third weekly gain, while U.S. jobs data calmed fears the economic revival had faltered. British Airways which has been whipsawed in recent weeks as oil prices fluctuated, added 3.1 percent after the company reassured investors, saying in its monthly traffic data statement that it still expected revenue for the year to March 2005 to be 2-3 percent higher than last year. The FTSE 100 index closed up 32.2 points, or 0.7 percent, at 4,550.8, having made gains in the last 10 out of 11 sessions. The index closed at its highest level since May. The benchmark index, which has risen for the third week in a row, had been trading near par before the release of data that showed the United States added 144,000 new non-farm jobs in August, just shy of expectations for a rise to 150,000. Figures for June and July were revised up. Concerns that the economic recovery had hit a rough patch, coupled with rising interest rates and surging energy prices had hobbled stocks over the summer. "We'd got to a classical hiatus: We'd had a profits and economic recovery, so shares had a good rise, but then they just sat there wondering what to do for an encore while the economy pulled through the cost increases and interest rate rises," said Dan Bunting, European strategist at Dryden Wealth Management. --More 1941 Local Time 1641 GMT
