By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- The U.K.'s FTSE 100 climbed for a third straight day on Thursday, tracking a positive mood in the U.S. and the rest of Europe.

The FTSE 100 ended 0.2% higher at 6,463.55, after swinging between gains and losses. Stocks in Europe and the U.S. also traded higher on the back of some solid earnings and better-than-expected U.S. growth data.

Among major gainers in London, shares of St. James's Place PLC climbed 3.6% after the wealth manager said funds under management climbed in the third quarter.

Shares of Barclays PLC (BCS) ended 0.9% higher after trading both in positive and negative territory throughout the session. The bank reported third-quarter adjusted pretax profit that beat expectations, but booked a 500-million pound ($800 million) legal provision related to investigations into the alleged manipulation of the foreign-exchange market.

Other banks also rose. Shares of Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC (RBS) gained 1.5% and Lloyds Banking Group PLC's (LYG) climbed 0.9%.

Mining firms weakened capping gains for the FTSE. Precious-metals miners posted the biggest losses as gold prices(GCZ4) slumped more than 2%. Shares of Randgold Resources Ltd. lost 6%, and Fresnillo PLC dropped 4.3%. Among larger miners, Anglo American PLC gave up 2.4%, Rio Tinto PLC (RIO) slipped 1.3%, and BHP Billiton PLC (BHP) dropped 0.9%.

Outside the main index in London, Balfour Beatty PLC fell 1% after Jefferies cut the construction company to underperform from hold.

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