By Tricia Wright
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's top shares rose for the first time in six sessions on Friday, helped by companies with exposure to Scotland, after another poll showed a majority would vote against independence next week.
Shares in companies with strong ties to Scotland such as Royal Bank of Scotland (L:RBS), Lloyds Banking Group (L:LLOY), soft drinks group AG Barr (L:BAG) and utility SSE (L:SSE) all advanced.
The latest poll put supporters of the union on 51 percent against 49 percent who favour independence, excluding people who said they did not know how they would vote in next Thursday's referendum.
But with the 'No' camp holding just a modest lead, investors refrained from making large bets on the FTSE 100 (FTSE). The index closed up 7.34 points, or 0.1 percent, at 6,806.96 points.
The UK benchmark briefly spiked around mid-session, hauled up by a jump in shares in oil major BP (L:BP), a move which several traders blamed on a likely human error, or "fat finger" trade.
The flurry of activity in BP shares at 1041 GMT (11:41 a.m. BST) saw the issue jump 4.8 percent to 494.9 pence, adding around 4.3 billion pounds ($7 billion) to the company's market value. The FTSE 100 shortly after hit a session high of 6,832.16 points. BP shares ended the session down 0.4 percent at 470.15 pence.
After a four-week winning streak, the FTSE 100 (FTSE) recorded a 0.7 percent fall for this week, which has been marred by concerns about the Scottish referendum, further signs of a slowdown in China and the prospect of a tightening in U.S. monetary policy.
"There's decent buying interest at 6,800, but people are worried about the Scottish referendum and that's stopping them from doing too much," Will Hedden, sales trader at IG, said.
Whitbread (L:WTB) was among the top losers on the FTSE 100, down 1.9 percent, as UBS downgraded the owner of Premier Inn hotels and Costa Coffee to "sell" from "neutral".
Among mid-caps, Aveva Group (L:AVV), whose software is used to design power plants, shipping and oil and gas facilities, tumbled about 25 percent as it warned about a 14 million pound hit to its first-half revenue from currency moves and the phasing of some rental renewals.
(Additional reporting by Francesco Canepa; Editing by Hugh Lawson)