By Preeti Upadhyaya, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.K. stocks struggled for direction
Wednesday thanks to fresh concerns over Greece's ability to repay
debt and a 0.7% contraction in U.K. gross domestic product, while
miners and banks lent support.
The FTSE 100 was up 0.1% at 5,503.14.
Keeping gains at bay, the U.K.'s GDP dropped 0.7% in the
second-quarter compared with the first quarter of 2012, below
analysts' prediction of a 0.2% drop.
Investors further remained cautious as they looked to overnight
drops on Asian bourses and lower U.S. markets Tuesday, where market
participants continued to fret over the possibility of a full
government bailout in Spain and a new round of debt restructuring
in Greece.
Weighing the index, BT Group PLC (BT) dropped 4.5% after
reporting first-quarter earnings that fell short of expectations,
with disappointing revenue figures.
Also on the move down, Johnson Matthey PLC fell 4% following
first-quarter results. Tim Stevenson, chairman of Johnson Matthey,
cited "a substantial reduction in operating profit from Precious
Metal Products Division which was particularly impacted by the
effect of lower precious metal prices."
British American Tobacco PLC (BTI) fell 1.3% after posting
slight gains in profit but flat volumes.
Lending support in London, semiconductor firm ARM Holdings PLC
added 5.7% after its second-quarter results beat expectations. ARM
Chief Executive Warren East said, "ARM's royalty revenues continued
to outperform the overall semiconductor industry as our customers
gained market share within existing markets and launched products
which are taking ARM technology into new markets."
Further lifting the index, banking major HSBC Holdings PLC (HBC)
picked up 1.3%, while Standard Chartered PLC rose 1.1%. Barclays
PLC (BCS) gained 0.8%.
Mining firms lent additional support, as metal prices rose
across the board. Vedanta Resources PLC added 1.6% and Eurasian
Natural Resources Corp. PLC climbed 1%. Industry giant Rio Tinto
PLC (RIO) gained 0.8%.
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