By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Oil firms led U.K. stocks higher after a
broker upgrade on Monday, while shares of GlaxoSmithKline PLC also
rose after a target price lift.
The FTSE 100 index climbed 0.4% to close at 6,330.49, partly
recovering from four straight weeks of losses.
Shares of Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC added 2.2% after analysts
at Citigroup said the consumer-products firm is undervalued by the
market, particularly in light of its resilience to the recent entry
of generic competition in the U.S.
Oil firms were also rising after J.P. Morgan Cazenove lifted the
sector to overweight from neutral and mentioned BP PLC (BP) as one
of its top picks. Shares of BP added 1%, Royal Dutch Shell PLC
(RDSB) put on 0.4% and BG Group PLC gained 0.3%. Oil prices were
also higher.
Shares of GlaxoSmithKline PLC (GSK) picked up 0.7% to 16.86
pounds ($26.48) after UBS lifted the price target on the drug maker
to GBP17.45 from GBP14.50, citing improving longer-term prospects
and higher sector multiples.
Bucking the positive trend in London, shares of Associated
British Foods PLC gave up 2.8% after Nomura cut the firm to reduce
from neutral.
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