By Adam Haigh Dec. 17 (Bloomberg) -- U.K. stocks rose, led by commodity companies including Fresnillo Plc, as silver and platinum prices rallied and a weaker dollar boosted the earnings outlook for metal producers. Fresnillo, the world’s-biggest silver producer, gained 8 percent. Lonmin Plc, the world’s third largest platinum producer, added 6.7 percent as platinum climbed. PartyGaming Plc soared 8.1 percent after Deutsche AG advised clients to buy shares of the owner of the PartyPoker.com online gambling brand. “The only winners have been the miners,” said Paul Webb, chief dealer at CMC Markets in London. The benchmark FTSE 100 Index added 15.11, or 0.4 percent, to 4,324.19. The measure has slumped 33 percent this year as more than $1 trillion in global losses and writedowns at financial firms froze credit markets and sent the U.S., Europe and Japan into the first simultaneous recessions since World War II. The FTSE All-Share Index added 0.4 percent today and Ireland’s ISEQ Index climbed 2 percent. Pessimism among investors worldwide has waned following moves from governments and central banks to stave off the effects of a recession, the latest Merrill Lynch & Co. monthly survey of fund managers showed today. Commodity Rally Fresnillo climbed 8 percent to 181.5 pence, while Lonmin gained 6.7 percent to 728.5 pence. Silver futures for March delivery climbed 5.4 percent to $11.28 an ounce on the Comex division of the New York Mercantile Exchange. Platinum rose to a two-week high in New York as the dollar fell, boosting demand for the metals as alternative investments. PartyGaming added 8.1 percent to 190.75 pence. Deutsche Bank raised the shares to “buy” from “hold” on optimism that the company will reach a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice. “We take a more positive view on the outlook for PartyGaming after greater clarity from the company on the likely outcome of discussions with the U.S.,” Deutsche Bank analyst Jon Tarasewicz wrote in a note published today. Bank of England policy makers voted unanimously to cut the benchmark interest rate to 2 percent this month, minutes of the Dec. 4 decision published in London today show. While the economic outlook had worsened, a cut of more than one point may push the currency down too far and “undermine confidence in the economy more widely,” according to the minutes. Separately, U.K. unemployment rose at the fastest pace since 1991 in November after companies from builders to retailers cut jobs as the economy sank deeper into recession. To contact the reporter on this story: Adam Haigh in London at ahaigh1@bloomberg.net

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