A woman cycles past a stock market indicator board in Tokyo Photo: EPA In London the FTSE 100 ended the day at an 18-month high, up 1.3pc or 72.54 at 5599.7. Over the week the index of leading shares was up 4.6pc. Mining companies were among the biggest winners on Friday, while financial shares were also lifted. Angus Campbell, head of sales at Capital Spreads, said "the bulls were out in force" from the moment the American data came out.   Related Articles UK factory inflation hits 14-month high FTSE 100 on the rise as Chinalco board talk boosts Rio Citigroup profits rise, Bank of America's fall Sterling rebounds as Mervyn King says economy is stabilising Asian shares wilt as doubt over rally return Asian shares hit seven-month highs Markets in the US were similarly buoyed by the figures, which quashed fears that February's winter storms would push hundreds of thousands out of work. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 80.72 to 10,524.86 in lunchtime trading in New York after the government's barometer of job losses in the public and private sector showed employers cut 36,000 jobs last month, far lower than the 75,000 consensus forecast.[Read more...]