Retailer Next PLC’s results help support advance
By Preeti Upadhyaya, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) — The main London stock index closed higher Wednesday, boosted by well-received corporate-earnings reports and optimistic labor market data from the U.S., shrugging off weaker U.K. manufacturing data from July, while miners helped support the index.
The FTSE 100 UK:UKX +1.38% closed 1.4% higher at 5,712.82.
The index tracked gains across Europe, where markets got an afternoon push from upbeat U.S. data, as the private sector added 163,000 jobs in July, according to a report from ADP. See: U.S. adds 163,000 private-sector jobs, ADP says
Weighing on markets, however, the July manufacturing purchasing-managers report for the U.K. showed a decline to 45.4 from 48.4 in June. See full story on U.K. manufacturing PMI.
Miners helped push the index higher in London. Antofagasta PLC UK:ANTO +2.43% added 2.4% after reaffirming its full-year copper-output target following higher second-quarter output. See: Antofagasta reaffirms copper-output target.
Mining giant Rio Tinto PLC UK:RIO +1.95% RIO +1.57% rose 2%, while Xstrata PLC UK:XTA +1.52% added 1.5% and BHP Billiton PLC UK:BLT +1.26% BHP +1.04% climbed 1.3%.
Bucking the trend in mining, Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. PLC UK:ENRC -1.07% dropped 1.1%, while Vedanta Resources PLC UK:VED -0.56% shed 0.6%. Randgold Resources Ltd. UK:RRS -2.07% lost 2.1%. Metals prices were mostly down.
REX 436.40, +1.90, +0.44%
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Moving in the other direction, clothing chain Next PLC UK:NXT +6.46% jumped 6.5% after it raised its full-year guidance following a better-than-expected sales performance. See: Next raises expectations on strong sales.
Standard Chartered PLC UK:STAN +3.62% climbed 3.6% after the bank reported that net profit had risen to a record in the first half of the year. See: Standard Chartered first-half profit rises 12%.
Vodafone PLC UK:VOD +3.34% VOD +2.41% was also up 3.3%.
Whitbread PLC UK:WTB -1.54% dropped 1.5% after UBS downgraded the restaurant operator to neutral from buy.
Preeti Upadhyaya is a MarketWatch reporter, based in London.
