By Preeti Upadhyaya, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) — London’s main stock index edged higher on Friday after French newspaper Le Monde reported that the European Central Bank and euro-zone governments were planning to buy Spanish and Italian debt.
Data from the U.S. showed that the economy grew 1.5% in the second quarter, exceeding economists’ expectations of a 1.3% rise in GDP. U.S. GDP
The U.K.’s FTSE 100 UK:UKX +0.21% was up 0.2% at 5,583.50.
The ECB was reportedly prepared to buy Spanish and Italian bonds, provided that the countries used the European Financial Stability Facility and the European Stability Mechanism. ECB/EU rescue fund plan joint action: report
Banking major Barclays PLC UK:BARC +7.42% BCS +4.08% shot up 7% after its first-half net profit fell to ÂŁ70 million ($109 million) from ÂŁ1.5 billion, but it kept its financial target for a 13% return on equity.
The bank also apologized for its recent interest-rate-rigging scandal, as it announced that its finance director was being investigated by U.K. regulators. Barclays under renewed scrutiny
Resource stocks weighed in London. Anglo American PLC UK:AAL -4.86% fell 5.1% after it reported disappointing earnings for the first half of the year, citing weaker prices, and stating that “short-term prospects for the world economy have deteriorated in recent months.”
Mining major Rio Tinto PLC UK:RIO +0.97% RIO +2.67% added 1.1%. Metals prices were mostly higher.
Also on the move down, Royal Dutch Shell PLC UK:RDSA -0.42% UK:RDSB -0.20% RDS.A -1.06% RDS.B -0.94% eased 0.4% after Citigroup cut its rating on the European oil and gas industry to underweight from neutral.
GlaxoSmithKline PLC UK:GSK +0.14% GSK +1.45% rose 0.3% even after Citigroup lowered the European health-care sector to neutral from overweight.
Pearson PLC UK:PSON -5.26% PSO +2.90% dropped 5.2% after the publishing group reported disappointing results for the first half of the year.
“We began 2012 planning for a challenging external environment and our caution was well-placed: Conditions have been tough in the early part of this year, and for a couple of parts of Pearson, tougher than expected,” said Pearson Chief Executive Officer Marjorie Scardino.
Moving in the other direction, British Sky Broadcasting Group PLC UK:BSY +1.42% climbed 1.7% after announcing it bought Parthenon Media Group, an international distribution and multimedia rights management company. BSkyB buys Parthenon Media
Preeti Upadhyaya is a MarketWatch reporter, based in London.
