By Clare Hutchison, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) — British stocks climb on Thursday, as investors remained positive following a key debt auction in Italy.
The FTSE 100 UK:UKX +0.25% rose 0.3% to 5,526.3 in the last full day of trading this week. The exchange will hold a shortened session on Friday.
The index fell 0.1% on Thursday, posting its first loss in three sessions.
Investors held steady after an Italian auction of long-term bonds. The sale raised €7 billion ($9 billion) instead of the top estimate of €8.5 billion, but saw yields on 10-year bonds cut.
Some banking shares climbed on Thursday. Lloyds Banking Group PLC UK:LLOY +0.82% LYG +1.97% and Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC UK:RBS +1.51% RBS +0.52% advanced. RBS climbed 1.8% and Lloyds increased by 1%.
However, HSBC Holdings PLC UK:HSBA -0.33% declined 0.2%.
Index heavyweight Vodafone Group PLC UK:VOD +0.91% was up on Thursday. The mobile-telecommunications firm added 0.9% in afternoon trade.
Fixed-line telecom company BT Group PLC UK:BT.A +0.75% also gained, rising 0.9%.
Some resources stocks recovered after trading lower in the previous session. Oil companies Petrofac Ltd UK:PFC +1.48% and AMEC PLC UK:AMEC +1.18% rose, adding 1.6% and 1.2% respectively.
Mining firm BHP Billiton PLC BHP +1.22% UK:BLT +0.92% advanced 1.2% and Antofagasta PLC UK:ANTO +0.33% rose by 0.5%.
Other miners were under pressure as metals prices were squeezed. Gold prices for February delivery fell 2.1% and silver prices for the same month sank 3.3%.
Polymetal International PLC UK:POLY -0.45% dropped 1% and Vedanta Resources PLC UK:VED -1.39% lost 1.7%. Kazakhmys PLC UK:KAZ -0.66% shed 0.4%.
Mining firm Evraz PLC UK:EVR -1.13% was one of the benchmark’s biggest losers in afternoon trade, shedding 1.5%. Media reports said an earthquake has temporarily halted its operations in Siberia.
International Consolidated Airlines Group SA UK:IAG -0.81% fell 0.7%. Pilots from the group’s Iberia airline on Thursday were on strike for a second day in a dispute over the launch of a budget carrier. The company said 36% of flights had been canceled. The Iberia strike in focus
Other travel stocks were also down on Thursday. Cruise operator Carnival PLC CCL +0.51% UK:CCL -0.33% slid 0.3% and InterContinental Hotels Group PLC UK:IHG -0.44% lost 0.5%.
Retailers lost ground as investors anxiously awaited assessments of the Christmas trading period. Marks & Spencer Group PLC UK:MKS -1.01% fell 0.7% and home-improvement chain Kingfisher PLC UK:KGF -0.41% was off 0.2%.
