Vodafone, BG Group and Kingfisher shares weigh on London market By Preeti Upadhyaya, MarketWatch LONDON (MarketWatch) — U.K. stocks rose Thursday and followed a broader risk-on trend in the European stock markets, as banks and miners moved higher, but heavyweight Vodafone Group PLC added pressure on the index and kept gains in check. The FTSE 100 index UK:UKX +0.50% rose 0.5% to 5,714.19, closing at its highest level since May 3. The U.K. index, brought down by disappointing retail sales data and Vodafone’s dip, trailed European markets which were up thanks to well-received earnings reports. European Markets U.K. retail sales for June were up by 0.1% from May and by 1.6% from the previous year, coming in lower than analysts’ respective growth forecasts of 0.5% and 2.2%. U.K. June retail sales post 0.1% monthly rise Weighing on the index in London, telecommunications giant Vodafone UK:VOD -1.16% VOD -0.46% shed 1.2% following second-quarter results from Verizon Communications Inc. VZ -2.15% . Vodafone’s stock fell after dividend distributions for Verizon Wireless failed to make the agenda on Verizon’s conference call, according to James Britton, an analyst at Nomura Equity Research. Verizon Wireless is a joint venture between Vodafone and Verizon. Burberry Group PLC UK:BRBY +4.63% , however, lent support, with the luxury-goods company’s shares picking up 4.6%. French peer Hermes International SCA FR:RMS +3.13% reported another double-digit rise in quarterly sales, although growth slowed. Read more about Hermès' sales Click to Play Barclays has ties to both campaigns Among the flood of donations from the financial sector to the presidential candidates are big amounts raised by employees of Barclays, a potential distraction for both campaigns. Danny Yadron has details on The News Hub. Photo: Bloomberg. Lloyds Banking Group PLC UK:LLOY +1.54% added 1.5% as the company agreed to sell 632 branches for 350 million pounds ($549 million). Also on the rise, Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC UK:RBS +3.92% climbed 3.9%, and Barclays PLC UK:BARC +2.56% picked up 2.6%. Standard Chartered PLC UK:STAN +2.29% was up 2.3%. Mining major Rio Tinto PLC UK:RIO +1.72% RIO +2.87% traded 1.7% higher after announcing it will cut jobs in Australia in an effort to cut costs. Rio Tinto BHP Billiton UK:BLT +1.43% saw a 1.4% rise. Metals prices were up overall. Bucking the trend in the mining sector, Vedanta Resources PLC UK:VED -0.77% dropped 0.8% after HSBC downgraded the mining firm to neutral from overweight. BG Group PLC UK:BG -2.09% dropped 2.1% after Credit Suisse downgraded the energy firm’s rating to neutral from outperform. Shares of home-improvement firm Kingfisher PLC UK:KGF -1.31% shed 1.3%. Sales fell following record rains across Northern Europe. Imperial Tobacco Group PLC UK:IMT -0.99% ITYBY -0.78% fell 1% to 2,509 pence after Barclays began coverage of the firm with an equal-weight rating and a target price of 2,725 pence ($42.80). Preeti Upadhyaya is a MarketWatch reporter, based in London.

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