Tesco and Ryanair surge helps UK stocks head north

London: UK stocks advanced, led by retailers and travel companies, even as oil prices headed for a record monthly decline.

Tesco Plc, the UK's largest retailer, climbed 3.7 per cent. Ryanair Holdings Plc, Europe's biggest discount carrier, gained 6.2 per cent.

BT Group Plc plunged 19 per cent after the UK's largest phone company said their second-quarter earnings had missed targets.

The FTSE 100 Index increased 31.56 or 0.7 per cent to 4,323.21 in late trading in London on Friday, as 71 shares rose and 31 fell.

The index suffered a 12 per cent decline last month.

The FTSE All-Share Index rose 0.6 per cent. Ireland's ISEQ Index added 4.8 per cent as Independent News & Media Plc rose the most in more than 21 years.

Crude oil fell and was poised for its biggest monthly reduction since New York trading began in 1983, amid concern that the contracting US economy will curb fuel use in the world's largest energy-consuming country. Oil suffered a 35 per cent decline last month.

"Barring a few exceptions, companies have changed their tone," Pierre-Yves Gauthier, founding partner of Alpha-value in Paris, said.

"There's been a brutal decline in activity. Something is breaking and I'm worried it will accelerate."