Chairman Patrick Cooper picked up 10,000 shares at 137p; he last bought shares a year ago at 28p.Broadcasters managed pluses following Whitehall's clearance of the controversial Granada stake in Yorkshire Tyne Tees Television. Low trading levels have also taken their toll.Boots shaded 1p to 579p. Its pounds 300m share buy-back prompted some retailers to move higher as the market speculated that part of the Boots cash will be pumped into other store shares. JD Wetherspoon, for example, rallied 15p to 1,005p.GRE, seen as the next insurance takeover target, improved 7p to 248p and Rexam, the paper and packaging group, rallied 14p to 339p.The market rally comes at the end of what has been an indifferent month for blue chips. In the past two weeks daily Footsie falls have been more than twice gains Political worries have been the major factor. HSBC put on 18p to 1,008p.Scottish & Newcastle, the nation's biggest brewer, frothed 7p higher to 659p. Results are due on Monday with pounds 315m against pounds 265m expected.

Guinness, after a poor run, continued to gather strength, gaining 12p to 469p. Many of the pub/restaurant groups, mauled on Thursday, managed modest recoveries. Barclays added 13p to 773p and National Westminster Bank 5p to 616p. In a bank sector enjoying a relaxation in the mortgage war the shares jumped 10p to 315p. James Capel lifted this year's profit forecast by 4.5 per cent to pounds 2.42bn and next by 7 per cent to pounds 2.75bn.

With the mortgage battle fading Abbey National gained 12p to 541p. There is a clear temptation for other industry powers to block the deal. Among those thought to be in the Lucas vicinity are GM, the US giant, and Continental players such as Mannesmann, the German engineer with nearly 9 per cent of Lucas, up 1.5p at 226.5p.Lloyds TSB led the blue chip charge. A little late institutional window-dressing, firm gilts and hopes of an interest rate cut next week pushed the FT-SE 100 index back above 3,700 points, although best levels were not always held. Amid the resurgence, TI Group, the engineer, was the poorest-performing blue chip, falling 12p to 538p as fears re-appeared it would barge into the comfy merger between Lucas Industries and Varity, the US car parts group.