By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- The U.K.'s FTSE 100 advanced for an
eighth straight day on Monday, with mining firms tracking metals
prices higher and supermarket firms in the spotlight after a round
of recommendation changes.
The benchmark index rose 0.5% to 6,654.20, adding to a 0.7% gain
from Friday.
Analysts at Deutsche Bank said the U.K. food retail sector
offers inexpensive exposure to the consumer recovery, but noted
that the biggest companies in the sector have entered a period of
structurally lower growth. The analysts cut Wm Morrison
Supermarkets PLC to sell from hold, sending the shares 0.2% lower.
The analysts kept Tesco PLC , up 0.8%, at buy, and raised the price
target on J Sainsbury PLC to 4.25 pounds ($6.87) from GBP3.70.
Those shares rose 0.6% to GBP3.97.
Mining firms also rose in London, tracking metals prices
higher.
Shares of Vedanta Resources PLC climbed 3.1%, Glencore Xstrata
PLC (GLCNF) added 0.9%, and Rio Tinto PLC (RIO) gained 0.7%.
Shares of Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC (RBS) slid 5.3% in
London after reports that J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. (JPM) and
Bank of America Corp. (BAC) are close to agreeing to
multibillion-dollar settlements with the Federal Housing Finance
Agency over boom-era house loans. RBS was one of the biggest
sellers of mortgage-backed securities to housing agencies Fannie
Mae and Freddie Mac before the financial crisis.
Additionally, Chancellor George Osborne told the Daily Telegraph
that the government could decide to split the bank within a matter
of weeks.
Shares of Barclays PLC (BCS) fell 1.1%.
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