FTSE notches up biggest weekly rise in dismal year
* FTSE 100 ends up 1.5 pct
* Drugmakers gain as EU report fails to surprise
* Miners track weaker metal prices
By Dominic Lau
LONDON, Nov 28 (Reuters) - Britain's leading share index ended up 1.5 percent on Friday, marking its biggest weekly rise after recent heavy losses as gains in drugmakers and banks outweighed weakness in miners.
The FTSE 100 .FTSE was up 61.91 points at 4,288.01 in a choppy session despite falling as much as 0.8 percent during the session.
The UK benchamrk gained 13.4 percent over the week but is still down 33 percent for the year on fears of a severe global recession.
Pharmaceuticals were the best-performing sector after the publication of a long-anticipated EU report on generic competition.
Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes said preliminary results of a year-long probe showed competition in the pharmaceuticals industry did not work as well as it should.
However, the lack of specific penalties allowed drugmakers to recover recent losses, traders said. AstraZeneca (AZN.L), GlaxoSmithKline (GSK.L) and Shire (SHP.L) gained between 5.1 and 6.2 percent.
Banks were also firmer, with the FTSE 350 banks index .FTNMX8350 up 2.2 percent on hopes the sector's woes could be easing as a UK government bailout bears fruit.
Barclays (BARC.L), HSBC (HSBA.L), Lloyds TSB (LLOY.L) and Standard Chartered (STAN.L) advanced between 1.3 and 10 percent.
"Economic data has been universally gloomy but I suppose the optimists would say the fact that we have fallen on a day in which we have negative news in the real economy suggests that we are close to the bottom," said Jeremy Batstone-Carr, head of private client research at Charles Stanley.
British retail sales plunged in November at their joint-fastest pace since records began 25 years ago while a growing number of Britons predicted prices would fall, not rise, next year.
Eeuro zone inflation plunged in November and unemployment jumped more than expected.
Batstone-Carr said he did not know if the market had hit bottom.
"We will probably know better as we go through the first quarter of next year. The trough in the marco environment is likely to be this quarter or next quarter," he said.
"Thereafter we may see the beginning of revival. But of course the unwinding of the earlier leverage is going to cause a very significant negative overhang for quite a long time."
Trading was light as the U.S. markets opened for a half-day session, having closed on Thursday for Thanksgiving holiday.
About 940 million shares changed hands on Friday, compared with 782 million on Thursday and last week's daily average of 1.4 billion.
MINERS LOSE LUSTRE
Miners were weak as early enthusiasm for the sector faded into profit taking, reflecting easier commodity prices.
Kazakhmys (KAZ.L), Rio Tinto (RIO.L), Anglo American (AAL.L), Xstrata (XTA.L) and Antofagasta (ANTO.L) shed between 2.4 and 6.5 percent.
Lonmin (LMI.L) topped the FTSE 100 losers' list, dropping 6.7 percent after South Africa's Solidarity union said Lonmin had notified it that it plans to cut a total of 4,000 jobs at two platinum mines.
Tesco (TSCO.L), Britain's biggest retailer, dropped 2.1 percent ahead of a third-quarter trading update next Tuesday, which analysts expect will show a sharp slowdown in underlying UK sales growth.
British Airways (BAY.L), rail and bus operator FirstGroup (FGP.L) and cruise operator Carnival (CCL.L) were up between 5.7 and 6.8 percent, boosted by cheaper crude prices.
BSkyB (BSY.L) was also in demand, up 6.1 percent after the pay-TV operator said it had applied for permission to appeal against a ruling that it must reduce its 17.9 percent stake in free-to-air broadcaster ITV (ITV.L) to below 7.5 percent. Mid-cap ITV sagged 6 percent. (Additional reporting by Jon Hopkins; Editing by David Cowell)
