Pearson up on South African stake; Miners stake out gains
By Barbara Kollmeyer, MarketWatch
MADRID (MarketWatch) — London stocks edged higher on Monday, bolstered by news that Ireland has applied for financial support, with miners and a gain for Pearson propping up the benchmark index.
The FTSE 100 index (UK:UKX 5,728, -4.43, -0.08%) traded up 0.1% to 5,740.40 in morning trading, paring its earlier gains.
The index ended last week down 1.1% amid uncertainty surrounding Ireland’s financial stability.
At least some of the market jitters were eased after Irish officials announced late Sunday that they have formally requested assistance from the European Union. The International Monetary Fund also said it stands ready to support the aid package.
No specific details on the size of the bailout were provided, however, with some media reports saying a package may total just under 100 billion euros ($137 billion).
U.K. banks have suffered weakness on back of worries related to Ireland, with some such as Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS 13.40, -0.03, -0.22%) (UK:RBS 40.62, -1.15, -2.75%) seen as having the most exposure.
Shares of RBS fell 3% on Monday, while Lloyds Banking Group PLC (UK:LLOY 65.50, -1.22, -1.83%) slipped 1%.
There was little corporate news to move shares, though media group Pearson PLC (UK:PSON 942.00, +11.50, +1.24%) gained 1.4% after announcing it will acquire a 75% stake in CTI Education Group of South Africa for 31 million pounds in cash. The deal will help it establish a partnership with CTI, one of the country’s leading private higher education institutions, to expand activities in South Africa.
Mining companies also logged gains, with shares of Vedanta Resources PLC (UK:VED 2,247, +39.00, +1.77%) up 2.5% and Xstrata PLC (UK:XTA 1,324, +5.00, +0.38%) adding 1.6%.
African Barrick Gold PLC (UK:ABG 546.50, +4.50, +0.83%) and Kazakhmys PLC (UK:KAZ 1,454, +4.00, +0.28%) each gained 1.4%.
