FTSE edges higher on BT buy call

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Telecoms giant BT leads the risers in early trading on Friday as markets edged higher once more.

As of shortly after 9am, the firm was almost 4p better, or 4.19%, at 96.9p, after Bank of America-Merrill Lynch raised its recommendation from neutral to buy and raised its price target from 110p to 130p. An hour after opening, the FTSE had advanced 0.19 points, or 0.08%, to 4,462.06. Royal Bank of Scotland was also in demand, rising 1.6p to 41.3p, but Barclays slipped 4p to 300p following confirmation of the £8.2bn sale of its BGI business to US investment giant BlackRock. Miners fell on Friday, with Vedanta Resources slipping 74p, or 4.24%, to £16.73 as it launched a $1bn convertibl...

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