FTSE has best full week of year

Leading UK shares have had their best full week of the year, boosted by good corporate results in the US and strong economic data from China.

The FTSE 100 index closed the week at 4,388.75 points, a rise of 6.4%.

The welcome gains came despite figures released on Wednesday showing a record rise in unemployment in the UK in the three months to May.

The FTSE is still 15% lower than it was 12 months ago, with analysts saying that the economic outlook is unclear.

This week has seen a number of major US banks report better-than-expected results for the April to June quarter.

First came Goldman Sachs, with profits of $3.4bn (£2.1bn), before JP Morgan, Citigroup and Bank of America all beat analysts' expectations.

Computer giants Intel, IBM and Google have also reported strong results this week.

Figures released on Thursday which showed that the Chinese economy - the world's third largest - had grown at a rate of 7.9% between April and June, also improved sentiment among traders.