samuflixson: Strong energy, miners lead UK stocks higher

Thursday, 18 October 2012

Britain's top share index pushed higher on Tuesday, tracking

gains on Wall Street and in Asia as investors turned more

positively on the outlook for equities following recent

better-than-expected U.S. corporate results and macroeconomic

data.

Gains by heavyweight energy, mining, and banking stocks

provided the main strength for the blue chips as investors'

appetite for riskier assets continued to improve.

At 0710 GMT, the FTSE 100 index was up 27.04 points,

or 0.5 percent at 5,832.65, having ended 0.2 percent higher on

Monday.

But although there seemed to be more optimism on the outlook

for third-quarter earnings and global growth, there remained

pockets of caution.

GKN was the biggest blue chip faller, shedding 2.5

percent as the car and plane parts maker GKN said a sluggish

European automotive market weighed on third quarter profit and

that a continued slump could impact the group for the remainder

of the year.

(Reporting By Jon Hopkins; Editing by Toni Vorobyova)

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