* FTSE 100 up 0.5 percent, still down 4.4 pct in March
* Energy stocks gain as crude rises
* Resistance around bottom of February trading range
By Simon Falush
LONDON, March 18 (Reuters) - Britain's top shares rose on
Friday as currency intervention by the world's top central banks
helped lessen anxiety on the outlook for the global economy, but
technical resistance was seen limiting a recovery.
By 1202 GMT, the FTSE 100 <> was up 28.35 points, or
0.5 percent, at 5,724.46, after it closed 1.8 percent up on
Thursday.
However, the index is still down 4.4 percent so far this
month, having been hammered earlier this week by concerns that
leaks at a nuclear power plant hit by a massive earthquake and
tsunami in Japan were out of control.
Energy stocks drove a large proportion of the gains after
Brent crude oil <LCOc1> rose 1 percent to $116 a barrel on fears
of spiraling violence across the Arab world. BP <BP.L> added 1.2
percent on high volumes.
Companies which service energy firms also benefited, with
Petrofac <PFC.L> rising 2.2 percent. Peer Amec <AMEC.L> added
2.6 percent, also supported by Investec Securities initiating it
with a "buy" rating.
Electricity grid operator National Grid <NG.L> added 2.7
percent after Credit Suisse raised its recommendation on energy
utilities to "overweight" from "underweight", saying they will
benefit from higher energy prices.
Japan bought billions of dollars to restrain a soaring yen
on Friday, backed up by action by European central banks as the
world's richest nations moved to calm financial markets made
nervous by Japan's nuclear crisis.
This seemed to reassure investors that authorities were
determined to protect the global economy, but the prospect of
increased violence in Libya after the United Nations authorised
military strikes to curb leader Muammar Gaddafi, kept investors
cautious.
Meanwhile, the Arabian gulf was also a source of anxiety
with hundreds of Bahrainis gathered on Friday to bury an
activist killed in a crackdown on mainly Shi'ite Muslim
protesters that has angered Iran and raised tension in the
world's largest oil-exporting region.
These factors meant investors were unlikely to rush back
into equities, with some saying they still look expensive.
"People had become over-confident, we were due a correction
on valuation grounds and the events in North Africa, Japan and
Bahrain are just triggers for selling," said Charles Morris,
manager of the $2.5 billion HSBC Absolute Return fund.
VOLUMES, VOLATLITY HIGH
Volumes were relatively high and moves in some stocks saw
rapid and quite big moves because of quadruple witching, the
expiry and settlement of March stock index futures, single-stock
futures, equity options and stock index options.
Technical analysts said that the FTSE 100 was bouncing of
oversold levels but there was some way to go before it is clear
that the phase of weakness is over.
"We are unwinding an oversold situation, but until we
recover to the February range lows of 5,860, it will look more
like a corrective bounce, than that the correction is over,"
said Phil Roberts, chief European technical strategist at
Barclays Capital.
Domestic data also added an element of caution.
British consumer confidence fell in February to its lowest
since records began in 2004, a survey from Nationwide showed,
fuelling doubts about the strength of economic recovery.
"It's actually shifting a bit of focus back to the UK after
a week of global macro (news flow)," said Joe Rundle, head of
trading at ETX Capital.
Retailers Marks & Spencer <MKS.L> and Next <NXT.L> both fell
0.7 percent, also weighed down by a note from BofA Merrill Lynch
which cut its ratings on both.
(Additional reporting by Tricia Wright and David Brett; Editing
by Jon Loades-Carter)
