U.K. Stocks Rise, Extending Weekly Gain; RBS Climbs (Correct)
March 12, 2010, 12:21 PM EST(Corrects FTSE 100 level in fourth paragraph.)
By Alexis Xydias
March 12 (Bloomberg) -- U.K. stocks gained, extending a second weekly increase for the benchmark FTSE 100 Index, as financial shares advanced and British Sky Broadcasting Plc rallied.
Lloyds Banking Group Plc and Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc tracked an increase in U.S. bank shares. BSkyB, the U.K.’s biggest pay-television provider, surged the most in almost eight months on a report that Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp. may bid for the shares it doesn’t own.
The FTSE 100 increased 0.2 percent to 5,625.65, bringing its weekly gain to 0.5 percent. The FTSE All-Share Index climbed 0.2 percent, while Ireland’s ISEQ Index rose 1.1 percent.
The FTSE 100 has climbed to near the highest level since June 2008, lifted by optimism that the global economic recovery and higher earnings will support the 12-month rally in equities. The measure has rallied 60 percent since reaching a six-year low on March 3 last year.
“Investors continue to under-price the prospective recovery in economic conditions in the U.K. and globally,” London-based JPMorgan Cazenove strategists Darren Winder and Rob Griffiths wrote in a report today. “In addition, and despite having rallied by over 50 percent in the past 12 months, we believe that the valuation case for U.K. equities remains very much intact.”
U.K. house prices increased 1.9 percent in February from January, the fastest pace in more than seven years, research group Acadametrics Ltd. said today.
Lloyds, RBS
Lloyds climbed 3.4 percent to 58.47 pence. The bank is close to agreeing a joint venture with Coller Capital Ltd. to sell a number of assets assembled by HBOS, Sky News reported on its Web site, without saying where it obtained the information.
RBS soared 5 percent to 42.57 pence. A measure of U.S. banks yesterday closed at the highest since November 2008, led by Citigroup Inc. as Chief Executive Officer Vikram Pandit said the bailed-out bank should be consistently profitable.
BSkyB rose 5 percent to 598 pence, the biggest gain since July 30. News Corp., which already owns 39 percent of the pay-TV company, may be planning to pay 735 pence a share for the stake it doesn’t already own, the Financial Times reported, citing speculation from traders.
Inmarsat Plc, the U.K. satellite provider of voice and data services to the maritime and aviation industries, rose 3.9 percent to 791.5 pence. The shares were raised to “outperform” from “neutral” at Exane BNP Paribas, which cited the company’s fourth-quarter earnings release.
Climate Exchange Plc advanced 7.5 percent to 510 pence. The owner of emissions markets in London and Chicago said it returned to profit last year as carbon-trading volumes surged.
--Editors: Andrew Rummer, Andrew Clapham
Alexis Xydias in London at +44-20-7073-3372 or axydias@bloomberg.net.
To contact the editor responsible for this story: David Merritt at dmerritt1@bloomberg.net.
