By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.K. stocks bounded higher Wednesday,
with gains for banks and miners leading the benchmark index toward
its first advance in two sessions.
The FTSE 100 index rose 0.8% to 6,642.30, with a 1.2% rise in
HSBC PLC pacing a higher run for bank issues. Miner Glencore
Xstrata PLC moved up by 1%, leading gains for the sector. Shares of
Antofagasta PLC , however, lagged that group with a loss of 0.3%
after the copper producer was downgraded to sell from neutral at
UBS.
The FTSE 100 finished Tuesday's session down 0.5%, extending
declines from Monday as part of a downturn in global assets as
investors sold off so-called momentum stocks, such as biotech and
Internet companies.
U.K. equities on Wednesday held to higher ground after
government data showed the country's exports of goods in February
fell to the lowest level in more than three years, down 1.6% from
January. Weakness was underpinned by lower sales to other countries
in the European Union, the largest trading partner for the U.K.
The trading session brought in support for Kingfisher PLC . Its
shares rose 2.7% as UBS raised its rating on the home-improvement
retailer to buy from neutral, saying a possible acquisition of
French retailer Mr Bricolage had more upside than it initially
thought.
There could be more upside "from converting some of the owned
stores (which lost EUR13 million last year) to Brico, whilst at
least retaining the profitability of the franchise business at the
current level of EUR37 million," said analyst Andrew Hughes in a
note Wednesday.
IMI PLC was also up, by 1.9% after the engineering company was
upgraded to overweight from neutral at HSBC.
Meanwhile, Nigerian oil and gas firm Seplat Petroleum
Development Company PLC priced its initial public offering for a
listing on the London Stock Exchange at 210 pence a share ($1.67).
The company will be the first to have a dual Nigeria/U.K. listing,
and based on the offer price, Seplat's total market capitalization
is about $1.91 billion.
Seplat produces around 60,000 barrels of oil a day from three
oil blocks it purchased from Royal Dutch Shell PLC in 2010, The
Wall Street Journal reported.
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