Britain's FTSE reaches five-month high as commodity shares gain
* Blue-chip FTSE 100 index rises 0.5 percent
* Commodity stocks boosted by higher metal, oil prices
* Hopes of Greek debt deal also improves sentiment
By Atul Prakash and Sudip Kar-Gupta
LONDON, Feb 13 (Reuters) - Britain's top share index advanced to a five-month high on Friday, trading less than 2 percent below its record peak, boosted by commodity stocks that benefited from a rise in copper and oil prices.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 index was up 0.5 percent at 6,861.07 points by 1210 GMT after climbing to 6,887.57, the highest since September last year. The index set a record high of 6,950.60 in late 1999.
The UK mining index surged 3.2 percent and the oil and gas index rose 1.6 percent after copper hit a three-week high and oil rose above $60 a barrel for the first time this year on signs that deeper industry spending cuts may curb excess supply.
Oil stocks BP, Tullow Oil (LSE: TLW.L - news) and Royal Dutch Shell (LSE: RDSB.L - news) rose by between 1.1 percent and 4 percent, while miners Rio Tinto (Xetra: 855018 - news) , BHP Billiton (NYSE: BBL - news) and Anglo American were 1.7 percent to 3.2 percent higher.
"The dual push from these commodities, alongside a clearing of clouds over Europe, looks set to give the FTSE a better close to the week than it could have hoped for," Spreadex financial analyst Connor Campbell said.
Traders said expectations that Greece could strike a deal with its international creditors were also helping the FTSE.
Greek shares rose 4.6 percent and the country's banking stocks jumped 10 percent, extending their recent rebound from a 75 percent slump since last March, with investors eyeing a meeting on Monday that could see Athens reach a deal with its creditors.
"Equity markets have made progress on continued optimism of a Greek bailout deal, further supported by agreement on a ceasefire in Ukraine," Mike van Dulken, head of research at Accendo Markets, said.
"No signs of market superstitions on this Friday 13th, or risk-off into what could be an important geopolitical weekend."
Ukraine and Russian-backed rebels fought fiercely for control of a strategic railway junction on Friday despite a new peace deal brokered by Germany and France. A ceasefire is due to come into effect from Sunday.
Among other movers, pharmaceuticals company GlaxoSmithKline (Swiss: GSK.SW - news) rose 4.2 percent after investment bank UBS (LSE: 0QNR.L - news) raised its rating on the stock to "buy" from "sell". (Editing by David Goodman)