he U.K. FTSE 100 index (UK:UKX 4,845, +88.03, +1.85%) rose 1.4%, or 67.91 points, to 4,824.49, a level not seen since last October. Gains were modest in early trading but picked up through the session as investors eyed data that fed into hopes for a continued improvement in the global economic backdrop. See Europe Markets. A closely watched gauge of economic activity across the 16-nation euro-zone private sector posted a record jump on Friday, as purchasing managers signaled that the region's battered economy stabilized in August. See full story. Of companies advancing notably in London, airline British Airways (UK:BAY 189.00, +13.40, +7.64%) climbed 6.6% and oil major Royal Dutch Shell (UK:RDSA 1,662, +46.00, +2.85%) (RDS .A 55.24, +1.82, +3.41%) saw its shares advance 2.2%. BP (UK:BP. 526.95, +9.55, +1.85%) (BP 52.52, +1.37, +2.68%) shares rose 1.4% as light sweet crude-oil futures climbed $1.09 to $74.00 a barrel. In a stronger financial sector, insurers Aviva (UK:AV. 407.40, +18.10, +4.65%) , up 3.9%, and Legal & General (UK:LGEN 77.85, +4.15, +5.63%) , up 4.1%, both advanced. "We believe Legal & General has been overlooked: in our view, its gearing alone should be enough to see it recover from 14-year lows if the market continues to rise," said Goldman Sachs analysts in a note on the sector. "L&G is on the Conviction Buy List. As we return to more normal investment conditions, we anticipate far less investment variances. This, we believe, will enable the market to focus on L&G's cash-generating ability," the broker added. Birmingham City gets takeover bid Outside the top index, shares of soccer club owner Birmingham City (UK:BMC 90.30, +25.80, +40.00%) soared 40.3% to 91 pence per share. An investment vehicle run by Hong Kong businessman Carson Yeung on Friday made a bid of 81.5 million pounds ($134 million) to buy the firm. Grandtop (HK:2309 0.41, 0.00, 0.00%) made an offer of 100 pence per share in cash. Read more on Birmingham City deal. Additionally, property Web site operator Rightmove (UK:RMV 513.50, +83.60, +19.51%) saw its shares jump 19.3%. First-half profit rose to 13 million pounds, from 12.6 million pounds at the same point a year ago, helped by cost cutting. It said that it's confident of exceeding market expectations for 2009. "Revenue is in line, but good cost control means a significant beat at the earnings per share level," said analysts at Investec Securities. Shares of BBA Aviation (UK:BBA 158.00, +4.15, +2.70%) climbed 2.9% after it was upgraded to hold from sell by Citigroup on Friday. The broker said that, after robust trading in the first-half of 2009 and strong cash generation, it believes the company's financial position looks more secure and trading is near a trough.

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