British construction output plunged by 4.3% in August m\m, defying forecasts of a 1.0% growth, and spreading fears about slowing British growth in the third quarter. British leading index, FTSE 100 took a small hit but was still up for the day, in tandem with a global rally in equities led by commodities and enforced by fading expectations of a Fed's rate rise any time soon.

As of 13:42 GMT, FTSE was up by 61 points, or 0.97% to 6,436. French index CAC 40 was up 50 points, or 1.06%, boosted by a positive French industrial production report, which showed a growth of 1.6% in August as opposed to a forecast of 0.6%. German index DAX was up 126 points, or 1.27% to 10,119.

U.S. main indexes were all up on Friday, with the Dow Jones rising 138 points, or 0.82%. S&P 500 was up 17 points, or 0.88%. NASDAQ rose a modest four points, or 0.09%.

Crude oil lost its earlier steam, with Brent oil falling 45 cents to $52.82 a barrel, after rising as much as 65 cents earlier. U.S. oil traded around its yesterday's closing price, at $49.74 a barrel, after rising to $50.89 earlier.

Sterling fell sharply after the construction output report came out showing a contraction. Against the Euro it fell to 0.7410. It gave most of its earlier gains against the Yen, trading at 184.20. Against the dollar it fell to 1.5315 after rising to 1.5384 earlier in the session.

Euro was on the offensive after the positive French industrial report, rising to 1.1352 against the wobbling dollar. Against the Yen it surged to 136.52.

Canadian dollar gave up earlier gains after the all important unemployment report came out, showing unemployment rate rising to 7.1%, against a forecast of 6.9%. The loonie last traded at 1.2983 against U.S. dollar.

Spot gold was up 9 dollars, or 0.79% to $1,153.58 an ounce. Silver was up six cents, or 0.38%, fetching $15.82 an ounce.