By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch
COPENHAGEN (MarketWatch) -- The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index scored a
fifth straight day of gains on Tuesday, with banks and oil firms
helping lift the benchmark index.
The index rose 0.2% to close at 6,694.17, marking the highest
closing level since late November. Trading in the FTSE closed early
at 12:30 p.m. London time, or 7:30 a.m. Eastern time, for the
Christmas break. The market will reopen on Friday.
On Monday, the benchmark rallied 1.1%, sending it into positive
territory for the month.
"Lighter volumes are sure to be helping the Santa Rally and
making sure December closes positive, so beware of the possibility
of a correction especially following gains of nearly 5% in just
over a week," said Mike van Dulken, head of research at Accendo
Markets, in a note to clients. "But a revisit of the 6,820
end-October high is certainly not out of the question around the
new year," he added.
Among notable movers in London, shares of British Land Co. PLC
rose 0.8% after the property-development firm said it has formed a
strategic partnership with Singapore's sovereign-wealth fund, GIC,
for the Broadgate office complex located near Liverpool Street
station in London.
Oil firms rose, tracking oil prices higher. Shares of BG Group
PLC gained 0.8%, BP PLC (BP) added 0.3% and Royal Dutch Shell PLC
(RDSB) inched 0.1% higher.
Banks rose, with shares of Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC
(RBS) up 0.7%, Barclays PLC (BCS) rising 0.4% and sector
heavyweight HSBC Holdings PLC (HSBC) 0.1% higher.
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