London shares drifted upwards on Friday ending a topsy turvy week for the stockmarket.

The FTSE index closed 11.2 points higher at 5491.

Share prices saw strong gains on Wednesday followed by sharp losses on Thursday.

An indifferent start on Wall Street and continued profit taking saw an early rise in share prices tail off.

Trading volumes were thin.

Shares had got off to a good start after Alan Greenspan, head of the US Federal Reserve, said on Thursday that investor confidence was returning to markets.

The FTSE index of leading shares had risen by as much as 100 points before heading downwards.

Shares in Anglo-Dutch food giant Unilever gained 19p to 609p after the company revealed third-quarter profits of £676m.

The company said its business in Europe and North America hasn't been affected by the economic slowdown, although consumer demand had weakened in South East Asia and Latin America.

Speculation about a possible merger between Prudential and Halifax drove both company's shares higher in early trading.

However both refused to comment on the speculation and the share prices fell back.

Halifax's shares ended down 2p at 845p while Prudential's shares were up 7p at 829p.

Shares in LucasVarity fell from 210p to 208.25p as shareholders awaited the result of an Extraordinary General Meeting to decide whether to move its listing to the US.