By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Stocks rose in London Wednesday, on
track for a third straight win ahead of the release of monthly U.K.
employment data and a budget announcement from the government.
The FTSE 100 gained 0.3% to 6,860.62, led by a 6% climb in
shares of Standard Chartered PLC after the Asia-focused bank was
upgraded to overweight from equal weight at Barclays. Shares in
retail chain Marks & Spencer PLC . advanced 2.1%.
Shares of Barclays PLC (BCS) edged up 0.6% following a Wall
Street Journal report
(http://www.wsj.com/articles/citigroup-barclays-close-to-settling-forex-lawsuit-with-private-investors-1426614947?mod=rss_whats_news_us)
that the British bank and Citigroup PLC (C) are moving closer to
settling a lawsuit with private investors who claimed they
manipulated foreign-exchange rates. The banks may pay as much as
$800 million combined to settle the lawsuit.
Decliners on the FTSE 100 were led by miner Fresnillo PLC ,
whose shares fell 3%.
Investors will watch for Chancellor of the Exchequer George
Osborne's presentation of the U.K. government's 2015 budget to
lawmakers, expected at 12:30 p.m. London time, or 8:30 a.m. Eastern
Time. The governing coalition's final budget comes not long before
the U.K. general election in May.
"We could well see some small moves on the pound or the FTSE,
but more likely is the opportunity to get a clearer picture of just
where the Conservatives are placed in terms of the general
election," said James Hughes, chief market analyst, at eToro, in a
note.
At 9:30 a.m. London time, the market will receive unemployment
figures for January, while the Bank of England will release minutes
from its most recent policy meeting.
The pound (GBPUSD) was trading at $1.4750, unchanged from late
Tuesday.
After U.K. trading closes, a highly anticipated monetary
statement from the Federal Reserve is due, and there's concern the
central bank will indicate it'll begin raising interest rates this
summer.
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/sainsbury-bhp-guide-ftse-100-higher-but-antofagasta-falls-2015-03-17)
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