The U.K. FTSE 100 index (UK:UKX 4,807, +50.19, +1.06%) rose 1%, or 44.97 points, to 4,801.35, a level not seen since last October. Gains were modest in early trading but picked up through the session as investors eyed data that pointed to a continued improvement in the 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 184.00, +8.50, +4.84%) climbed 2.9% and oil major Royal Dutch Shell (UK:RDSA 1,647, +33.00, +2.04%) (RDS .A 54.66, +0.56, +1.06%) saw its shares advance 0.8%. BP (UK:BP. 525.20, +8.60, +1.66%) (BP 52.29, +1.14, +2.23%) shares rose 1.6% while natural-gas producer BG Group (UK:BG. 1,064, +19.00, +1.82%) advanced 1.8% as light sweet crude-oil futures climbed $1.11 to $74.00 a barrel. In a stronger financial sector, insurers Aviva (UK:AV. 399.60, +10.20, +2.62%) , up 2.6%, and Legal & General (UK:LGEN 76.80, +3.25, +4.41%) , up 5.2%, 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 Birmingham City (UK:BMC 90.00, +25.50, +39.53%) jumped 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 to buy Birmingham City for 100 pence per share in cash. Read more on Birmingham City deal. Additionally, property Web site operator Rightmove (UK:RMV 498.60, +72.10, +16.83%) saw its shares jump 13.6%. 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 159.40, +5.65, +3.67%) climbed 3.5% 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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