London open: Financials gains, US data eyed

- Financials stock, Tullow oil lead the rise on the Footsie- Barroso sees improvement in the Eurozone- Oil prices reboundLondon's blue chip index advanced in the opening hour on Friday on a relatively quiet day for company news. Investors will be looking ahead to industrial production and consumer confidence data due out Stateside after the open on Wall Street.President of the European Commission (EC) José Manual Durao Barroso said late yesterday that the 'important reforms' undertaken by EU countries such as Italy and Spain have improved the overall situation in the Eurozone. Barroso insisted that the "the situation is better" and that the euro is a strong currency. He noted that "there has been progress in managing the crisis" and pointed out that "it was not so much a crisis of the euro as a currency, but rather of the sovereignty of some members of the Eurozone". Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has today upgraded its view on Greece. It now estimates that the country's debt-to-GDP ratio could fall to 116.5% by 2020, versus the 120.5% previously estimated. Oil stocks on the whole were making gains after oil prices rebounded from a one-week low after improving economic data from the US - namely jobless claims - buoyed hopes of demand from the world's largest economy. Meanwhile, the US announced that it has not yet agreed to tap the oil stockpile from the Strategic Petroleum Reserve to deal with rising prices. Brent futures on the ICE Europe were 0.24% higher at $122.93 a barrel.TULLOW STRIKES AGAIN OFF THE COAST OF GHANATullow Oil, which released record results earlier this week, had more good news for shareholders with the successful drilling of an appraisal well off the coast of Ghana. The group said the Enyenra-4A appraisal well, in the deep-water Tano licence offshore Ghana, has successfully encountered oil in very good quality sandstone reservoirs. There might be more to come from this prospect, too, as the company added that there is good evidence of communication with the Owo-1 discovery wells and the Enyenra appraisal wells, which confirms the significant extent of the Enyenra light oil field. Financial stocks were also among the high risers with Hargreaves Lansdown, Royal Bank of Scotland, Aviva, Lloyds and Prudential making gains.On the FTSE 250, traders were debating the collective name for a group of Rothschilds on Friday morning as RIT Capital Partners, the London-listed investment trust chaired by Lord Rothschild, and Edmond de Rothschild Group (EdRG), the international private banking and asset management group chaired by Baron Benjamin de Rothschild, announced the creation of a strategic partnership. Shares were up early on.Shares in AIM-listed healthcare software provider EMIS rose after it saw a strong increase in revenue and profit in 2011, being able to maintains its market-leading position in the GP clinical software industry.Meanwhile, department store chain Beale tumbled after tough retail conditions and reduced offers in the first 19 weeks of the fiscal year fell by 8.4%.BCFTSE 100 - RisersHargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 491.40p +2.82%Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 27.20p +2.76%Tullow Oil (TLW) 1,503.00p +2.18%Aviva (AV.) 381.30p +1.71%Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 380.70p +1.49%Shire Plc (SHP) 2,188.00p +1.39%Essar Energy (ESSR) 115.00p +1.23%Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 36.85p +1.10%International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (IAG) 176.80p +0.97%Prudential (PRU) 787.50p +0.96%FTSE 100 - FallersGKN (GKN) 216.00p -1.64%Cairn Energy (CNE) 328.20p -0.97%Polymetal International (POLY) 986.50p -0.85%Tate & Lyle (TATE) 710.00p -0.70%Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 6,605.00p -0.68%CRH (CRH) 1,376.00p -0.65%Schroders (Non-Voting) (SDRC) 1,287.00p -0.54%GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) 1,424.00p -0.49%Sage Group (SGE) 298.60p -0.47%Reed Elsevier (REL) 544.00p -0.46%FTSE 250 - RisersHalfords Group (HFD) 307.00p +3.54%Imagination Technologies Group (IMG) 660.00p +3.21%F&C Asset Management (FCAM) 70.10p +2.79%Aegis Group (AGS) 183.90p +2.45%Supergroup (SGP) 614.50p +2.42%Debenhams (DEB) 76.75p +1.99%Renishaw (RSW) 1,417.00p +1.50%UBM (UBM) 624.50p +1.38%Afren (AFR) 132.60p +1.30%Inchcape (INCH) 397.60p +1.25%FTSE 250 - FallersSoco International (SIA) 323.70p -3.69%Savills (SVS) 375.70p -2.42%Oxford Instruments (OXIG) 1,201.00p -2.20%Domino Printing Sciences (DNO) 551.00p -1.69%BH Global Ltd. USD Shares (BHGU) 11.75 -1.67%Spirit Pub Company (SPRT) 60.00p -1.64%Cape (CIU) 465.00p -1.61%Greggs (GRG) 527.00p -1.50%New World Resources A Shares (NWR) 452.90p -1.31%BTG (BGC) 349.10p -1.02%