By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch Stagecoach rallies after winning
East Coast rail contract
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index edged higher
Thursday, led by gains for banking firm Barclays PLC after a
ratings upgrade.
The London benchmark rose 0.1% to 6,737.34. The index on
Wednesday slipped 2 points.
Barclays (BCS) was the top advancer, rising 1.8% after Goldman
Sachs lifted the bank to buy from neutral.
But energy companies tracking oil prices were lower, as a
closely watched meeting at the Organization of the Petroleum
Exporting Countries got underway.
All eyes were on the oil sector on Thursday as OPEC members
gathered in Vienna to decide whether to cut production to remove
some of the glut in supply in global markets and boost oil prices.
Crude-oil (CLF5) tanked nearly 2% to $72.38 a barrel ahead of the
decision, weighing on the FTSE's oil majors.
Shares of Petrofac Ltd. dropped 2.8%, Tullow Oil PLC lost 0.6%,
and Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB) gave up 0.7%. BP PLC (BP) fell
0.2%, but was off session lows.
Outside the main benchmark, Stagecoach Group PLC jumped 6% after
the transportation operator, in collaboration with Virgin, won the
franchise to run the East Coast rail route.
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