U.K. stocks rose, after two days of declines, before reports that may show U.S. factory output and consumer confidence increased.
Royal Bank of Scotland Plc advanced 3.6 percent after Investec Bank Plc upgraded the shares. Tullow Oil Plc (TLW) gained 3.5 percent after saying it found oil at a well in Africa. Soco International Plc (SIA) fell 4.7 percent after Oriel Securities Ltd. cut its rating on the stock.
The FTSE 100 (UKX) Index added 0.3 percent to 5,958.76 at 10:54 a.m. in London. The measure has gained 7 percent this year. The broader FTSE All-Share Index also advanced 0.3 percent, while Ireland’s ISEQ Index rose 0.2 percent today.
“Economic data is firmly positive in every developed region and even in emerging markets,” Patrick Moonen, senior strategist at ING Investment Management, said in an interview on Bloomberg Television. “Both the systemic risk and recessionary risk have declined. There’s room for this risk premium to decline further and for valuations to move up.”
U.K. stocks have gained 1.2 percent this week after reports showed the U.S. economic recovery is strengthening and euro-area finance ministers approved a second bailout for Greece.
U.S. industrial production expanded in February, a report at 9:15 a.m. in Washington may show. Output from factories, mines and utilities rose 0.4 percent last month, economists forecast in a Bloomberg News survey.
A gauge of consumer confidence increased in March to its highest level in a year, another report may show. The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan preliminary index of consumer sentiment climbed to 76 from 75.3 a month earlier, according to the median estimate of economists.
Futures and options on equity indexes are expiring today in a process known as quadruple witching.
RBS Gains
RBS advanced 3.6 percent to 27.41 pence after Investec raised its rating on the stock to buy from hold.
Tullow Oil gained 3.5 percent to 1,522 pence after saying the Enyenra-4A appraisal well in the Deepwater Tano license off Ghana encountered oil in “very good-quality” sandstone reservoirs.
Imagination Technologies Group Plc (IMG), a U.K. chip designer in which Apple Inc. holds a minority stake, climbed 6.6 percent to 681.5 pence after Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said the company’s royalties from designs used in the new iPad and other tablets will boost earnings.
Shire Plc (SHP) added 1.3 percent to 2,186 pence after JPMorgan Chase & Co. upgraded the stock to overweight, the equivalent of buy, from neutral.
Soco International Plc, a U.K. explorer in Africa and Southeast Asia, lost 4.7 percent to 320.2 pence after Oriel Securities cut its rating to hold from add, the equivalent of buy.
Falkland Oil & Gas Ltd. (FOGL) dropped 1.7 percent to 59.75 pence after Argentine Foreign Minister Hector Timerman said energy companies operating on the “Argentine platform” that includes the islands are doing so illegally.
To contact the reporter on this story: Namitha Jagadeesh in London at njagadeesh@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Andrew Rummer at arummer@bloomberg.net
