Advertisement
UK markets closed
  • NIKKEI 225

    40,168.07
    -594.66 (-1.46%)
     
  • HANG SENG

    16,541.42
    +148.58 (+0.91%)
     
  • CRUDE OIL

    83.11
    +1.76 (+2.16%)
     
  • GOLD FUTURES

    2,254.80
    +42.10 (+1.90%)
     
  • DOW

    39,807.37
    +47.29 (+0.12%)
     
  • Bitcoin GBP

    56,108.75
    +1,503.27 (+2.75%)
     
  • CMC Crypto 200

    885.54
    0.00 (0.00%)
     
  • NASDAQ Composite

    16,379.46
    -20.06 (-0.12%)
     
  • UK FTSE All Share

    4,338.05
    +12.12 (+0.28%)
     

Britain's FTSE advances, helped by pharma stocks

* FTSE 100 up 0.3 pct

* Shire (Xetra: S7E.DE - news) rises after test results

* Rio Tinto (LSE: RIO.L - news) leads miners

* Travel stocks gain

* Mondi (LSE: MNDI.L - news) falls on paper probe (ADVISORY- Reuters plans to replace intra-day European and UK stock market reports with a Live Markets blog on Eikon - see cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageId=livemarkets for site in development. See the bottom of the report for more details)

By Alistair Smout

LONDON, April 4 (Reuters) - British shares edged higher on Monday, buoyed by a rise in pharmaceutical firms, which helped the index to gain for the first time this quarter.

ADVERTISEMENT

Britain's blue-chip FTSE 100 index closed up 18.67 points, or 0.3 percent at 6,164.72 points, snapping a two-session losing run, which had seen it close out the first quarter with a 1.1 percent fall to start 2016.

Monday's rise failed to recoup a 0.5 percent drop in the previous session, the first trading day of the second quarter.

The index remained in a range of around 200 points which has persisted since the start of March, and volumes were thin.

Pharmaceutical stocks added the most points to the index, led by Shire.

It (Other OTC: ITGL - news) rose 2.9 percent after it announced positive results for a trial of an ADHD treatment.

Travel and leisure stocks also gained after Irish-listed Ryanair Holdings (Xetra: RY4B.DE - news) posted a jump in March traffic figures.

British Airways owner IAG rose 0.8 percent and mid-cap Wizz Air (LSE: WIZZ.L - news) advanced 3.8 percent, with analysts citing a weaker oil price as also supporting the sector.

Tui (LSE: 0NLA.L - news) missed out on gains, down 2.8 percent after UBS cut its target price on the sector.

Retailer Marks and Spencer rose 0.8 percent after broker Peel Hunt upgraded its rating to "buy" from "hold" and raised its target price.

Worldpay Group (Other OTC: WDDYF - news) rose 1 percent, with its shares rebounding after a 10 percent droup in the first quarter.

The payments-processing firm had been under pressure after results last month disappointed the market, but traders said that fundamentals remained strong.

"Markets were uninspired by what management described an 'in-line' start to 2016 and thus less bullish than shareholders had been hoping for ... (however) the fundamentals for the company are ... pretty solid as we move toward a cashless society," said Mike van Dulken, head of research at Accendo Markets.

Paper and packaging company Mondi fell 2.5 percent after the Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS) of the Russian Federation said it had initiated an investigation into Mondi (EUREX: MDIF.EX - news) Syktyvkar over the pricing of offset paper.

Mondi said it had not yet received any FAS notification.

Downgrades by investment bank Credit Suisse (LSE: 0QP5.L - news) weighed on car insurer Admiral Group (LSE: ADM.L - news) and Rolls-Royce Holdings, which fell 1.3 percent and 0.5 percent respectively.

ADVISORY - Reuters plans to replace intra-day European and UK stock market reports with a Live Markets blog on Eikon (see cpurl://apps.cp./cms/?pageId=livemarkets for site in development). In a real-time, multimedia format from 0600 London time to the 1630 closing bell, it will include the best of our market reporting, Stocks Buzz service, Eikon graphics, Reuters pictures, eye-catching research and market zeitgeist. Breaking news and dramatic market moves will continue to be alerted to all clients and we will continue to provide a short opening story and comprehensive closing reports.

If you have any thoughts, suggestions or feedback on this, please email mike.dolan@thomsonreuters.com.

Mike Dolan, Markets Editor EMEA. (Editing by Andrew Roche)