FTSE ends up 1.2 percent

By Jon Hopkins

LONDON (Reuters) - The leading share index ended up 1.2 percent on Thursday, rallying late on with Wall Street and as rising crude boosted heavyweight oil stocks.

The FTSE 100 .FTSE was 46.94 points higher at 4,087.83 at the close after a volatile session, having swung between a high of 4,108.36 and a low of 3,927.57.

The benchmark fell 5.6 percent over the previous two sessions and is down more than 38 percent for the year.

"There is a real sense of traders testing the levels here," said Felix Riley, head of Binaries at financial bookmakers ChoiceOdds.

"People don't want to be forced sellers, but volumes are thin and the most modest of trading is swinging the market erratically," Riley added.

Energy stocks provided the main strength for the FTSE, with the sector recovering from earlier falls as crude prices rallied by over $3 a barrel ahead of Friday's OPEC meeting, with production cuts expected.

BP (BP.L), Royal Dutch Shell (RDSa.L), BG Group (BG.L) Cairn Energy (CNE.L) and Tullow Oil (TLW.L) were up between 0.7 and 5.2 percent.

Market heavyweight Vodafone (VOD.L) also gave the index a boost, up 4.8 percent as the mobile phone operator attracted some bargain-hunting after a recent sell-off.