By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Traders in London reached for the buy
button on Tuesday, sending the benchmark stock index higher for the
first time this week.
The FTSE 100 index added 1.7% to close at 6,372.33, recovering
from a 0.7% loss from Monday. European stocks also rebounded,
lifted by media reports that the European Central Bank is
considering buying corporate bonds to further stimulate the
eurozone's ailing economy.
GKN PLC added 3.6% after the engineering group reported a rise
in third-quarter pretax profit.
Oil firms posted major gains, tracking a rise in oil prices.
Shares of BP PLC (BP) rose 2.8% and Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB)
picked up 3.5%.
Shire PLC (SHPGY) climbed 2.6% after AbbVie Inc. (ABBV) late
Monday formally dropped its plan to acquire the Irish drug
maker.
On a more downbeat note, shares of Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC
lost 2.1%, after the consumer-products company cautioned that
full-year sales would come in at the lower end of its previously
forecast range. Read about more big stock moves in Europe here.
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