The FTSE 100 opened around 30 points higher at 10,503 on Friday, led by a sharp rise in Vodafone shares.
Vodafone jumped 11.7% following news that French billionaire Xavier Niel has acquired a £4.4 billion stake in the telecoms group.
BT was also higher, rising 1.8% on positive sector read-across from Vodafone.
Property developers, airlines and utilities were among the other sectors trading on the front foot.
Among the FTSE 100 heavyweights, miners provided further support, with Rio Tinto and Anglo American both up around 1.5%, while the major banks were modestly positive.
St James’s Place was the biggest faller on the index, although there was no immediately obvious company-specific catalyst for the decline.
AstraZeneca fell a further 1.6%, extending losses following Thursday’s disappointing phase three trial result for Wainua.
On the FTSE 250, easyJet surged 13.29% to 666.73p after the airline said its board was minded to recommend a £7.15-per-share proposal from Apollo, ahead of a rival £6.90-per-share approach from Castlelake.
The Apollo proposal values easyJet at £5.7 billion, although it does not yet constitute a firm offer under the UK Takeover Code.
Elsewhere in Europe, France’s CAC 40 was broadly flat and Germany’s DAX slipped 0.07%, while the pan-European Stoxx 600 edged 0.08% higher.
