BLBG:U.K. Stocks Rise Second Day as Commodity Producers Gain
U.K. stocks advanced for a second day, as commodity producers gained and Alcoa Inc. unofficially started the U.S. earnings season by reporting quarterly profit that beat projections.
Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. rose 4.6 percent, leading mining stocks higher. Vedanta Resources Plc gained 4 percent after its Cairn India Ltd. unit said it found oil in a new well. Centamin Plc added 2.6 percent after saying gold production at its Egypt mine increased to a record in the first quarter. ICAP Plc lost 3.6 percent after people familiar with the situation said brokers at the company are being investigated for possible manipulation of interest-rate swap prices.
The FTSE 100 Index (UKX) gained 40.36 points, or 0.6 percent, to 6,317.30 at 8:42 a.m. in London. The gauge has rallied 7.1 percent this year as U.S. lawmakers agreed on a compromise budget and data fueled optimism the world’s biggest economy is recovering. The broader FTSE All-Share Index also rose 0.6 percent today, while Ireland’s ISEQ Index added 0.9 percent.
Alcoa Inc., the largest U.S. aluminum producer, said late yesterday earnings excluding one-time items were 11 cents a share in the first-quarter, beating the 8 cent-average analyst forecast.
Profits at companies in the S&P 500 may contract 1.8 percent in the first quarter, the first decline since 2009, analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg show.
Chinese Inflation
Inflation in China eased more than forecast, reducing pressure on policy makers to tighten credit, as the world’s second-largest economy recovers from a slowdown. The consumer price index rose 2.1 percent in March from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said today in Beijing. That compares with the 2.5 percent median estimate in a Bloomberg survey of economists.
U.K. industrial production increased 0.4 percent in February, from a 1.2 percent drop a month earlier, economists forecast in a Bloomberg survey before a report today. The Office for National Statistics will release the data at 9:30 a.m. in London.
The volume of shares trading hands in FTSE 100-listed companies was 25 percent lower than the average of the past 30 days, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
To contact the reporter on this story: Sofia Horta e Costa in London at shortaecosta@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andrew Rummer at arummer@bloomberg.net
