By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch

International Consolidated Airlines Group climbs

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.K. stocks climbed Monday, led by natural-resource and consumer discretionary plays.

The FTSE 100 index closed up 1% at 6,632.82, its first win in four sessions, as the index came off a nearly four-month low.

Shares of iron ore miner Rio Tinto leapt 3.6%, and oil producer BP (BP) was bid up 1.1% as was spirits maker Diageo .

Also among top gainers, air carrier EasyJet and International Consolidated Airlines Group , parent of British Airways and Iberia, rose 2.4% and 4.5%, respectively.

On Friday, the FTSE 100 finished at 6,567.36, the weakest close since April 15, according to FactSet data. It logged a 1.7% decline last week.

Investors have been "preoccupied with geopolitical concerns, not least the provocative manner in which Russian troops have been undergoing 'training exercises' close to the Ukrainian border," as well as U.S. President Obama's decision to authorize airstrikes against insurgents in Iraq, said Bill McNamara, technical analyst at Charles Stanley, in a Monday report.

Friday's news of withdrawal of Russian troops from the border came too late on Friday for the U.K. market, he said.

Monday's decliners included Friends Life Group Ltd. , down 1.4% following a downgrade of the insurer at Deutsche Bank to hold from buy. While the broker still expects to see benefit from further balance-sheet restructuring, "the degree of upside from this is now less compelling than it was."

Off the benchmark, Balfour Beatty rose 2.6% after the construction group rejected a revised takeover offer from rival Carillion . Separately, Balfour posted a narrower first-half loss of 27 million pounds ($45.3 million).

Carillion shares ended 1% higher.

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