By Barbara Kollmeyer, MarketWatch
MADRID (MarketWatch) -- Shares of Burberry Group PLC stood out
as a big gainer in lackluster London trading on Tuesday. Stocks
came off their worst levels, but the action still looked nothing
like the prior session when the FTSE 100 saw the best gains in more
than five weeks.
The FTSE 100 index was flat at 6,304.78. The index gained 1.5%
on Monday, its biggest percentage gain since May 28, as investors
cheered upbeat economic data in the U.K., Europe and the U.S.
Wall Street stocks shook off an opening loss to move higher on
the last full day of trading for U.S. markets ahead of Thursday's
Independence Day holiday. Important nonfarm payroll data comes
Friday. In Europe and the U.K., central banks will announce
interest rate decisions for Thursday.
Shares of Burberry Group PLC surged 3.2% to 1,409 pence after
HSBC lifted the luxury retailer to overweight from neutral, and its
price target to 1,750 pence from 1,530 pence.
HSBC analyst Erwan Rambourg said strategic initiatives seem to
be coming together for Burberry, and noted "better growth
visibility at a time when the stock no longer trades at a premium
to the luxury-goods sector."
Rambourg said "beauty" integration and Japan, the last big
legacy issues for Burberry, should be less disruptive than
initially thought.
Diageo PLC (DEO) led decliners with a 1% drop.
Among the resource stocks, miner Rio Tinto PLC (RIO) fell 1%.
Oil and gas company Tullow Oil PLC fell 1.5%, giving back some of
gains earned the prior day after an upgrade from Nomura.
Financials were also on the weak side, with Royal Bank of
Scotland PLC (RBS) dropping 2% and Lloyds Banking Group PLC (LYG)
down 1.3%.
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