By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch

Vodafone looking at best month since November

U.K. stocks nudged higher Friday, with Vodafone PLC and retailer Primark's parent among advancers helping to keep British blue chips on track for a monthly advance.

The FTSE 100 was up 0.1% to 7,047.50, with energy, mining and financial stocks moving higher. Also up were shares of Vodafone , by 1.4%. The mobile-phone services provider is open to a tie-up with U.S. cable company Liberty Global (LBTYA), according to a Reuters report Thursday.

Vodafone shares have rallied nearly 12% this month, after Liberty's Chairman John Malone reportedly said last week that Vodafone would be a "great fit" for Liberty's operations in Western Europe.

Topping the blue-chip benchmark was Associated British Foods PLC , up 2.5% after Goldman Sachs raised its rating on the Primark operator to buy from sell. AB Foods also has sugar operations. The roughly 17% underperformance of the shares so far this year "offers an attractive entry opportunity in our view," wrote Goldman analysts in a note.

For the month, the FTSE 100 is on track to rise 1.2%, which would be a second-consecutive monthly gain, according to FactSet data.

Still, the London benchmark's gain on Friday was blunted by losses for industrial and consumer shares. Equipment-rental firm Ashtead Group PLC fell 1.4%, adding to Thursday's decline, after U.S. peer United Rentals Inc (URI) said activity in May had been softer than it had expected.

In M&A news, U.S. data-center operator Equinix (EQIX) said Friday it has reached a deal to acquire (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/equinix-agrees-deal-with-telecity-2015-05-29-24852531) U.K.-based peer Telecity Group PLC valued at 2.35 billion pounds ($3.6 billion). Telecity shares were down 0.3% on the FTSE 250 index.

Sterling: In the currency market, the pound (GBPUSD) fell against the dollar, trading at $1.5275, compared with $1.5313 late Thursday. Sterling stayed lower against the greenback in afternoon trade following a report showing the U.S. economy contracted in the first quarter (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-gdp-turns-negative-in-first-quarter-again-2015-05-29).

The pound was facing a 0.5% decline versus the dollar this month. "The technicals have taken complete control of the pound/dollar throughout May, with the bears seeing the recent close below $1.55 as an opportunity to exploit and price in further declines," Jameel Ahmad, chief market analyst at FXTM, wrote in emailed comments.

The economic outlook for the U.K. is attractive to traders, but the Bank of England is "still at least a year from raising interest rates, especially with their outlook on inflation being so increasingly dovish," he said.

Looking ahead: Heading into the weekend, investors were watching to see if Greece is making any headway on its aim to reach a deal by Sunday with its creditors. An agreement would lead to the cash-strapped country receiving its next round of bailout funds. Overall, European stocks were lower Friday. Read: Greek optimism on deal is misplaced, says German finance minister (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/greek-optimism-on-deal-is-misplaced-says-german-finance-minister-2015-05-29)

Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires