U.K. shares were seeing marginal gains on Friday after official data showed U.K. retail sales recovered in April driven by food and non-food turnover.
The retail sales volume increased 0.5 percent month-on-month, in contrast to the 1.2 percent fall in March. Sales were forecast to grow more moderately by 0.3 percent.
On a yearly basis, retail sales dropped at a slower pace of 3.0 percent, in line with expectations, after a 3.9 percent decrease in March.
The benchmark FTSE 100 was up 6 points at 7,578 after closing 0.7 percent lower on Thursday.
Miners Anglo American, Antofagasta and Glencore all jumped around 3 percent on U.S. deal optimism.
AstraZeneca gained half a percent after a combination of its cancer drugs Imfinzi and Lynparza showed positive results in a late-stage trial.
UK Commercial Property REIT, a real estate investment trust, added nearly 2 percent.
The company has sold its Webley Logics Asset in London measuring 186,455 sq ft for 74 million pounds to Covent Garden IP Limited, a registered charity.
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