By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.K. stocks rose Monday, giving the
benchmark FTSE 100 index its longest winning streak in 10
months.
The last week of trade in 2014 began with gains for miners as
well as for Royal Mail PLC, following the demise of a rival parcel
company.
The FTSE 100 index rose 0.4% to 6,633.51, its eighth consecutive
gain. The index held held solidly to positive territory even as
gains for the broader European stock market melted, hurt by
political and financial uncertainty in Greece after a parliamentary
vote left the country facing a snap general election, likely on
Jan. 25.
The upcoming Greek election "will raise fresh fears over the
fate of the eurozone and the timelines for the possible
implementation of a European version of quantitative easing," said
Alastair McCaig, market analyst at IG, in a blog posting. The
eurozone is the U.K.'s largest trading partner.
Running to the top of the FTSE 100 on Monday was Royal Mail , up
4.3% following the collapse of rival parcel-delivery company City
Link. Royal Mail appears interested in taking on some of the large
customer contracts held by City Link, Sky News reported Saturday.
KMPG held preliminary talks with Royal Mail and DX Group PLC in an
effort to find a buyer for City Link, the report said.
Roughly 3,700 jobs may be lost as a result of City Link's
collapse, reports said.
Mining stocks bounced after being hit in recent weeks by lower
prices for metals and concerns about oversupply in the iron-ore
market. Shares of iron-ore producer BHP Billiton PLC (BHP) and
Anglo American PLC each rose 2.5%, and copper producer Fresnillo
PLC tacked on 2.4%.
Smith & Nephew PLC shares were up 1.4%, extending their 7.7%
jump on Christmas Eve, after a Bloomberg report that U.S.
surgical-implants maker Stryker Corp. (SYK) is preparing to make a
takeover offer. U.K. markets were closed on Thursday and Friday for
the Christmas holiday.
Decliners included travel stocks, with easyJet PLC down 2.4% and
both TUI AG and IAG off 1%.
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