By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.K. stocks moved higher Monday, with
the start of the last week of trade in 2014 seeing gains for mining
shares, as well as a further advance for medical-devices maker
Smith & Nephew PLC.
The FTSE 100 index rose 0.3% to 6,631.08, and a win Monday would
be the index's eighth in a row.
Top gainers included mining stocks, which have been hit in
recent weeks on lower prices for metals and concerns about
oversupply in the iron-ore market. Shares of iron-ore producer BHP
Billiton PLC (BHP) picked up 2.6%, copper producer Fresnillo PLC
gained 3.1%, and Anglo American PLC rose 2%.
Smith & Nephew PLC shares were up 2.1%, extending their 7.7%
jump on Christmas Eve, after a Bloomberg report that U.S.
surgical-implants maker Stryker Corp. (SYK) is preparing to make a
takeover offer.
Meanwhile, shares of Tesco PLC were off 0.5% following analysis
that the supermarket chain is facing the possibility of having to
inject 300 million pounds ($467.4 million) into its employees'
pension plan for the next 10 years, the Guardian reported over the
weekend, citing a report from pensions consultant John Ralfe.
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