LONDON MARKETS: FTSE 100 Edges Higher, Even As Miners Struggle
23 May 2016 - 7:20PM
Dow Jones News
By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch
Royal Mail rises after a ratings upgrade
U.K. stocks turned higher Monday, with a gain in shares of Royal
Mail helping to put the benchmark on track for a second straight
win.
The FTSE 100 was up 0.2% to 6,169.53, flipping higher after
opening in the red, in part as mining shares moved lower. Still
struggling, shares in Anglo American PLC (AAL.LN) fell 2.8%, and
iron ore heavyweight BHP Billiton PLC (BLT.LN) (BHP.AU) (BHP.AU)
shares were down 1.7%.
Monday's gain follows Friday's surge of 1.7%
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ftse-100-bounces-higher-as-fed-effect-fades-2016-05-20),
its best daily rise since April 12. Friday's move followed a
selloff in the previous session, which was spurred by worries about
a June interest-rate increase by the Federal Reserve.
At the top of the benchmark, Royal Mail PLC (RMG.LN) rose 3.6%
after an ratings upgrade for the delivery company to sector perform
from underperform at RBC.
"This summer/autumn should see greater certainty emerge of the
direction of future wage inflation, cash pension costs, and more
detail start to emerge from [regulator] Ofcom," said RBC.
Tobacco shares, meanwhile, were largely unscathed after French
insurer AXA (AXAHY) said it'll stop investing in the industry,
citing economic costs. Shares of British American Tobacco PLC
(BATS.LN) slipped 0.1%, while Imperial Brands PLC (IMBBY) was
fractionally higher.
Inmersat PLC (ISAT.LN) shares fell 2.9% after Morgan Stanley
downgraded the satellite company to equal weight from
overweight.
The pound rose 0.3% to $1.4541.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
May 23, 2016 05:05 ET (09:05 GMT)
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