By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.K.'s FTSE 100 index headed for its
highest close in almost seven weeks on Thursday, with Anglo
American and AstraZeneca leading stocks higher after well-received
trading updates.
The London benchmark advanced 0.5% to 6,709.86, climbing back
after a 0.1% decline on Wednesday.
Shares of Anglo American PLC led gainers in the index, up 3%,
after the miner said output rose in the first quarter, with
iron-ore production up 10% due to solid performances from its two
South African iron-ore mines.
Other mining firms tracked Anglo American higher, with shares of
Fresnillo PLC up 1.3%, Rio Tinto PLC (RIO) rising 1.3%, and BHP
Billiton PLC (BHP) 0.7% higher.
Also lifting the FTSE 100, shares of AstraZeneca PLC (AZN)
climbed 2.8% after the drug maker confirmed its 2014 financial
guidance. The company, however, posted a fall in first-quarter
profit as sales of its best-selling drugs continued to be squeezed
by generic competition.
Earlier in the week, AstraZeneca was among major advancers after
a report that Pfizer Inc. (PFE) had approached the U.K. drug maker
about a possible merger.
Barclays PLC (BCS) shares gained 1.2%, shaking off the bank's
warning that a slowdown in fixed-income trading would push adjusted
first-quarter profit lower than in the same quarter last year.
On a more downbeat note in London, shares of Unilever PLC (UL)
dropped 1.4% after the consumer-products giant reported a fall in
first-quarter sales, as currency weakness across emerging markets
continued to weigh on its performance.
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