By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch)--U.K. stocks climbed Friday, with gains for
resource shares guiding the FTSE 100 to its best week in three
years.
The FTSE 100 surged 1.2% to 6,545.27. The gain was paced by
advances for energy and mining stocks which also helped the
resource-heavy index gird itself from an intraday downturn in the
broader European market. The resources sector eventually led the
Stoxx Europe 600 to a positive finish, as well.
Among the London session's top gainers, Tullow Oil PLC rose 7%.
The producer's shares have been among those in the energy space
that have been battered in recent weeks as oil prices have tumbled
to five-year lows below $60 a barrel. WTI and Brent crude-oil
futures improved during Friday's session, but are facing losses of
roughly 45% for the year.
U.K. oil and gas industry officials are warning that the slide
in oil prices is having a devastating impact, including threatening
jobs, on the North Sea oil industry. It's "nearly impossible to
make money at these prices," the Daily Mail newspaper on Thursday
quoted Robin Allan, chairman of Brindex, an association of
independent explorers, as saying.
Miner Randgold Resources on Friday rose 4.5%, logging its first
weekly rise in four weeks, and copper miner Antofagasta PLC picked
up 3.4%, marking its first weekly win in three.
The FTSE 100 itself rose 3.9% for the week, which featured "one
of the most volatile sessions in many years" on Tuesday, said Bill
McNamara, senior technical analyst at Charles Stanley, in a note
this week.
Shares of Tesco PLC ended 5.6% higher. The shares have risen
since Tuesday after Kantar Worldpanel said the supermarket chain
over the past three months logged its best sales performance since
June.
WPP PLC shares rose 2.1% following an upgrade for the
advertising firm to buy from neutral at Citi. Separately, WPP said
Thursday it has purchased Mexico City-based Clarus Digital S ADA de
CV for an undisclosed amount, with the purchase aimed at boosting
WPP's digital-marketing services.
Shares of International Consolidated Airlines Group Ltd. were up
1.3%, a day after the parent of British Airways said its offer to
buy Irish flag carrier Aer Lingus Group PLC was rejected. Aer
Lingus said IAG's proposal fundamentally undervalues its prospects.
Shares of Aer Lingus slipped 0.3% Friday.
Decliners in London trade included Next PLC , down 0.9% after
Jefferies downgraded the fashion retailer to hold from buy, saying
it believes the company's "competitive advantage is
diminishing."
Also lower, shares of utility SSE PLC were off 1.3%.
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