By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch
U.K. stocks edged higher Monday, aided by gains in miner
Fresnillo and a late-session jump in BHP Billiton while the index's
move higher was kept in check, in part, by losses in financial
firms.
The FTSE 100 rose 0.1% to 6,988.87, but spent part of the
session swaying between gains and losses. The benchmark on Friday
declined 0.2%
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ftse-100-gains-as-sabmiller-rises-but-heads-for-weekly-loss-2015-05-15),
when British and European stocks dropped as poor U.S. data
underscored concerns about growth in the world's largest
economy.
The FTSE 100 during midday trade Monday gave up a 35-point gain
and fell into the red, a move that was "no surprise to me with
cracks in U.S. GDP appearing on the horizon," wrote Panmure market
commentator David Buik on his Twitter page.
Fresnillo PLC shares finished at the top of the FTSE 100, rising
5.4% as they remained solidly higher throughout the session. The
precious metals miner said it is still on track to boost its output
this year
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/fresnillo-reports-rise-in-silver-gold-output-2015-04-15)
following an increase in silver and gold output in the first
quarter.
Iron-ore mining heavyweight BHP Billiton (BHP) had been down
more than 5%, but managed to swing higher, ending up 2.7%. They had
been under pressure after the overnight trading debut in Australia
of South32 Ltd. , which comprises BHP's noncore assets. The shares
opened at 2.13 Australian dollars ($1.71) each, which was toward
the lower end of market expectations, according to Dow Jones
Newswires, citing analysts.
Royal Mail PLC shares picked up 2.8% after Investec upgraded the
company's rating to buy from reduce. The move comes after PostNL
and private-equity firm LDC in April ended talks about expanding
delivery company Whistl in Britain. The suspension of Whistl's
service "represents a turning point in Royal Mail's investment
case," and Royal Mail "will now deliver all of Whistl's access
mail, returning around GBP10 million to revenues and a similar
amount to operating profit," wrote Investec.
Babcock International Group PLC shares also rose 2.8%, after the
engineering-and-defense services company raised its dividend by 10%
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/babcock-lifts-dividend-10-as-yearly-profit-climbs-2015-05-18)
and as its full-year pretax profit rose 43% to 313.1 million pounds
($492.4 million). Revenue climbed 20% to GBP4 billion.
But Lloyds shares fell 1% as Investec cut its rating on the bank
to sell, from hold. Earlier in May, Lloyds shares became the
top-performer on the FTSE 100 after a two-week surge in the wake of
its first-quarter interim statement and the result of the May 7
U.K. general election, analyst Ian Gordon noted. Lloyd's
first-quarter performance was "robust" but broadly in line with
Investec's formerly above-consensus forecasts.
Among financials, banking firm Barclays PLC shares shed 0.2% and
Royal Bank of Scotland PLC slipped 0.1%.
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