By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.K. stocks moved firmly higher on
Tuesday with mining firms leading the way north, boosted by upbeat
data from China.
The FTSE 100 index rallied 0.8% to 6,581.52, on track for the
highest close since mid-August.
The benchmark was buoyed by encouraging data from China, with
the mining sector in particular performing well. China is a major
user of natural resources so commodity firms tend to rise on growth
indications from the country.
Industrial production in China rose 10.4% in August, up from
9.7% in July and beating expectations of a 9.9% gain. Additionally,
retail sales jumped 13.4%, also topping analyst expectations. Asia
stocks closed in positive territory.
Shares of Rio Tinto PLC (RIO) gained 3%, Anglo American PLC put
on 2.4% and BHP Billiton PLC (BHP) added 1.8%.
Shares of Glencore Xstrata PLC (GLCNF) put on 3.5% after the
newly merged company said it has identified at least $2 billion of
synergies for 2014, exceeding the initial merger guidance of $500
million.
The broader market also found support in news about the Syria
conflict where tensions eased late Monday. U.S. President Barack
Obama said in a series of television interviews that if the Syrian
government were to give up its chemical weapons, the U.S. would put
air strikes on hold.
On a more downbeat note, shares of GlaxoSmithKline PLC (GSK)
lost 3.1% after Citigroup cut the drug maker to neutral from buy
after a period of outperformance. Instead, the analysts said they
favor buy-dated Novartis AG and Roche Holding AG in Europe and
buy-rated Bristol-Myers Squibb Co. (BMY) and Pfizer Inc. (PFE)
among the U.S. majors.
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