U.K. stocks rose for the first time in three days, with the benchmark FTSE 100 (UKX) Index heading for its first weekly gain in a month, as mining companies rallied and investors watched the expiry of derivative contracts.
Anglo American Plc led commodity producers higher, adding 2.2 percent, as copper climbed in London. Meggitt Plc (MGGT) increased 1.6 percent after UBS AG recommended that investors buy shares in the aircraft-parts maker. Burberry Group Plc fell 1.4 percent after Bank of America Corp. downgraded the U.K.’s largest luxury-goods maker to the equivalent of a hold rating.
The FTSE 100 advanced 0.3 percent to 6,563.19 at 8:59 a.m. in London. The gauge is poised for a weekly increase of 0.5 percent amid growing optimism tit-for-tat sanctions between the U.S. and Russia won’t lead to wider trade and business disruption. The broader FTSE All-Share Index added 0.2 percent today, while Ireland’s ISEQ Index climbed 1 percent.
Trading may be more volatile today as futures and options contracts expire in a process known as witching.
A report at 4 p.m. in Brussels may show consumer confidence in the euro area improved this month. An advance reading may show the European Commission’s index of household confidence increased in March to minus 12.3 from minus 12.7 in February, according to the median of estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
To contact the reporter on this story: Inyoung Hwang in London at ihwang7@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Cecile Vannucci at cvannucci1@bloomberg.net Srinivasan Sivabalan