By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index traded in
tight ranges on Tuesday, with shares of Unilever providing support
after a well-received earnings report, while miners added pressure
as iron-ore prices declined.
The benchmark index was marginally higher at 6,838.94, on track
for a third straight day of gains.
Unilever PLC (UL), the maker of Dove soap and Axe deodorant,
gained 3.2% after the consumer-products company reported a rise in
full-year earnings.
"Unilever's results were refreshingly dull, doubly so in view of
the amount of second-guessing by analysts and investors over the
last couple of weeks. EPS came in 3% ahead of our forecast at
EUR1.58, and we can't see anything untoward in their composition,"
said James Edwardes Jones, an analyst at RBC Capital Markets, in a
note.
Shares of IMI PLC put on 1% after the engineering firm said it
will return 620 million pounds ($1.02 billion) to shareholders from
the sale of its beverage-dispense and merchandising divisions.
In the same vein, Melrose Industries PLC gained 0.5% after the
investment company said it will return GBP600 million to
shareholders following recent disposals of businesses.
On a more downbeat note in London, however, mining firms
declined as iron-ore prices fell to their lowest level in six
months. The downturn was partly due to a retreat by Chinese buyers
in response to slowing domestic steel production and rising
stockpiles. Shares of Rio Tinto PLC (RIO) dropped 1.8%, Anglo
American PLC lost 1.3%, BHP Billiton PLC (BHP) fell 1.1% and
Glencore Xstrata PLC gave up 0.8%. Metals prices were broadly
lower.
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