UKX FTSE 100 Index

By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch

Royal Mail rises after a ratings upgrade

U.K. stocks turned higher Monday, with a gain in shares of Royal Mail helping to put the benchmark on track for a second straight win.

The FTSE 100 was up 0.2% to 6,169.53, flipping higher after opening in the red, in part as mining shares moved lower. Still struggling, shares in Anglo American PLC (AAL.LN) fell 2.8%, and iron ore heavyweight BHP Billiton PLC (BLT.LN) (BHP.AU) (BHP.AU) shares were down 1.7%.

Monday's gain follows Friday's surge of 1.7% (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ftse-100-bounces-higher-as-fed-effect-fades-2016-05-20), its best daily rise since April 12. Friday's move followed a selloff in the previous session, which was spurred by worries about a June interest-rate increase by the Federal Reserve.

At the top of the benchmark, Royal Mail PLC (RMG.LN) rose 3.6% after an ratings upgrade for the delivery company to sector perform from underperform at RBC.

"This summer/autumn should see greater certainty emerge of the direction of future wage inflation, cash pension costs, and more detail start to emerge from [regulator] Ofcom," said RBC.

Tobacco shares, meanwhile, were largely unscathed after French insurer AXA (AXAHY) said it'll stop investing in the industry, citing economic costs. Shares of British American Tobacco PLC (BATS.LN) slipped 0.1%, while Imperial Brands PLC (IMBBY) was fractionally higher.

Inmersat PLC (ISAT.LN) shares fell 2.9% after Morgan Stanley downgraded the satellite company to equal weight from overweight.

The pound rose 0.3% to $1.4541.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

May 23, 2016 05:05 ET (09:05 GMT)

FTSE 100
Index Chart
From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024

FTSE 100
Index Chart
From Apr 2023 to Apr 2024