By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.K. stocks moved higher Tuesday, with
commodity stocks moving higher after a better-than-expected
economic-growth figure from China.
But shares of Unilever PLC came under pressure after downbeat
comments on demand from the consumer-goods heavyweight.
The FTSE 100 rose 0.4% to 6,608.53, with gains across all
sectors. Topping the advancers were retailer Sports Direct
International PLC and banking firm Barclays PLC , up by 3.2% and
1.8%, respectively.
Most mining shares rose after China -- a key buyer of
commodities -- said gross domestic product rose 7.4% in 2014, above
expectations for growth of 7.2% and in line with the government's
target of about 7.5%. Still, the growth figure was the weakest
since 1990.
Among miners, Anglo American PLC rose 1.8%, Fresnillo PLC gained
1.3%, and Glencore PLC picked up 0.8%.
In a trading update, Rio Tinto PLC logged an 11% rise in
full-year production of iron ore, slightly ahead of its target of
295 million tons. But its shares were in the red, falling 1.8%.
Unilever PLC shares fell 0.9% after the company said it still
saw weakening demand in emerging markets last year. Full-year
revenue fell 2.7% to 48.4 billion euros, hurt by a 20% sales
decline in China in the fourth quarter. Full-year profit, however,
increased by 6.8% to 5.17 billion euros.
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