By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.K. stocks rose Tuesday, with shares in Aberdeen Asset Management PLC and BHP Billiton PLC supporting the equity market as it entered the second quarter.

The U.K.'s FTSE 100 rose 0.8% to 6,652.61. The benchmark on Monday closed the first three-month period of this year with a loss of 2.2%, the first quarterly decline since the second quarter of 2013.

U.K. stocks pushed to intraday highs following a rally on Wall Street as U.S. manufacturers said business picked up pace slightly in March, and expect the economy to underpin demand in the spring. The S&P 500 index (SPX) hit its best intraday level since late March.

Contributing the FTSE's advance were shares of Aberdeen Asset Management PLC , topping gainers with a jump of 6.7% as the company said outflows from its funds slowed in March. Aberdeen also said it has identified and is implementing "significant additional costs savings" beyond what it expected from its purchase of Scottish Widows Investment Partnership.

Miner BHP Billiton (BHP) was also among the best performers, rising 2.1% after the company said it may continue to adjust its portfolio to focus on up to five key commodities. BHP reportedly is considering a 20 billion Australian dollar ($18.5 billion) spinoff of certain assets.

On a broader front, market-research firm Markit reported a final March reading of 53.0 for its euro-zone manufacturing Purchasing Managers' Index, unchanged from a previous estimate.

While the U.K.'s manufacturing sector grew in March, weaker demand from overseas resulted in a slower overall pace in growth. The U.K. PMI was 55.3 in March, according to Markit and the Chartered Institute of Purchasing & Supply. That was down from 56.2 in February, and short of expectations of a 56.7 reading.

The FTSE 100 largely held its advance after the data, but the British pound (GBPUSD) declined against the U.S. dollar.

While the headline U.K. PMI figure fell short of expectations, the number is positive and "shows the U.K. economy is on the right path to recovery," said Alex Edwards, corporate-desk head at UKForex in a note Tuesday.

"Coming off the back of the strong retail sales data last week, and the possibility of other PMIs printing close to expectations later this week, we think there could be enough momentum to take GBP/USD back through 1.67 and 1.68 in the near-term," said Edwards.

In other developments Tuesday, the U.K.'s independent public-spending watchdog said the U.K. government could have received a better deal for taxpayers when it privatized Royal Mail PLC . Caution by the government in several areas led to shares of Royal Mail being priced well below the level at which they started trading, said the National Audit Office, while the U.K. government has defended its actions. Royal Mail shares closed up 0.4% on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the Bank of England's financial policy committee, in minutes from its most recent meeting, warned that investors could experience significant losses on riskier trades if they are complacent in the face of rising interest rates.

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