LONDON (AFP) - Leading shares were supported by a strong performance by Friends Provident and a firm mining sector, while a resilient Wall Street also helped as US investors refused to be spooked by a mixed bag of economic data.

The FTSE 100 index closed 2.4 points higher at 6,129.2, while the broader indices also ended in positive territory on Tuesday.

Volume was well above average, with 3.5 billion shares changing hands in 343,941 deals.

US stocks were slightly higher by London's close, as upbeat earnings news from Procter & Gamble and Lowes countered a mixed bag of economic data.

The Conference Board said that its consumer confidence index edged down to 105.4, from a revised 105.9 in September, while analysts had expected a reading of 107.8.

The Employment Cost Index had earlier come in 1 percent higher in the third quarter -- compared to 0.9 percent in the April-June period -- the biggest quarterly increase since a similar 1 percent rise in the second quarter of 2004.

On the corporate front, Procter & Gamble posted slightly better than expected fiscal first-quarter net earnings of 79 cents a share, just ahead of analysts' expectations and above the 77 cents recorded in the same period last year.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) was up 7.00 points at 12,093.50, while the Nasdaq was up 9.75 point at 2,373.52.

In London, Friends Provident remained the best FTSE 100 performer with a gain of 6.70 percent, after accompanying its better-than-expected new business figures with ambitious new targets.

The group announced that third-quarter life pensions and new business sales rose by 40 percent to 1.597 billion pounds, beating a company-collected analyst forecast of 1.460 billion.

In response, UBS reiterated its 'buy' recommendation and put its 230 pence price target under review.

The broker added, as an order of magnitude, it estimates tripling UK value of new business would add around 20 pence to its target but would also depress short-term cash flow.

Cazenove said if it takes management's new targets at face value, it will need to raise its 2008 UK new business forecasts by 41-56 percent, with a net pre-tax benefit of between 32-42 million in 2008.

This would represent an earnings per share (EPS) enhancement of 5.0-6.6 percent, and could drive a mid-single digit increase in sum of the parts fair value.

Insurance peers Aviva and Legal & General rose 4 pence to 775 and 2.25 pence at 144-1/2 respectively, further buoyed by consolidation hopes following reports that French peer AXA is 'mulling over' a 7 billion pound approach for Standard Life.

Mining stocks were also in demand, helped by bullish comment from UBS.

Xstrata gained 19 pence to 2,240 after the Swiss broker raised its target to 3,000 pence from 2,682 following its takeover of Canadian nickel miner Falconbridge.

Kazakhmys added 16 pence to 1,201 after UBS raised its target to 1,400 pence and repeated its 'buy' rating after yesterday's production report.

Lonmin was the second biggest riser, up 68 pence -- or 2.40 percent -- to 2,902 despite the same broker lowering its platinum forecasts and cutting its target to 3,300 pence from 3,500.

Antofagasta dipped 0.75 pence to 507, after a mixed production report revealed that copper output grew to 126,400 tonnes in the quarter to September, from 100,900 tonnes in the second quarter and 116,000 tonnes the previous year.

Tobacco stocks were also in demand, following solid results from Imperial Tobacco and Japan Tobacco.

Imperial Tobacco Group shares closed 18 pence higher at 1,857, reversing early losses as profit-taking swiftly subsided.

Imperial Tobacco said adjusted profit from operations rose to 1.356 billion pounds from 1.297 billion last year, driven by rising market shares in the UK and Germany and a cost-cutting drive.

In response, UBS repeated its 'neutral' stance as it remained cautious on the continuing difficult conditions in Germany and the full implementation of the public smoking ban in the UK.

UK peer and oft-rumoured Japan Tobacco target Gallaher added 13 pence to 890, although British American Tobacco (BAT) fell 10 pence to 1,429.

Shire was also in demand, 16.50 pence firmer at 956.50 as Credit Suisse placed a 'trading buy' recommendation on the stock, following Monday's post-results profit-taking drop.

The broker said its analysis reveals a commercial benefit for Shire in renegotiating the profit share agreement with New River Pharmaceuticals for its NRP104 attention deficit hyperactivity disorder treatment.

AstraZeneca was the joint biggest blue-chip casualty, dropping 53 pence -- or 1.68 percent -- to 3,098, in sympathy with French peer Sanofi-Aventis, which fell sharply after the company unveiled a 1.1 percent slide in comparable third quarter sales to 6.90 billion euros.

Oil stocks were also under pressure following Monday's crude price drop of over 3 percent and with New York's main contract slipping below 58 dollars a barrel.

BP was down 8.50 pence at 583, while Cairn Energy joined AstraZeneca as the biggest FTSE 100 casualty by falling back 30 pence -- or 1.68 percent -- at 1,755.

BP remained the second most traded issue after 122 shares changed hands.

Vodafone remained the most popular blue-chip with investors exchanging 544 million shares in the telecoms giant.

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