By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Shares of investment manager Hargreaves
Lansdown PLC rallied in London after a well-received earnings
report on Wednesday, leading the U.K.'s benchmark stock index
higher for a second straight day.
The FTSE 100 index rose 0.2% to close at 6,295.34.
Hargreaves Lansdown jumped 11% after reporting a 30% rise in
pretax profit for the first half of the year and raising dividends
to 6.3 pence (9.87 cents) from 5.1 pence. .
Shares of Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. rose 9.1%. The miner
said in its production report for the fourth quarter that the
ferroalloys and iron-ore divisions operated at full capacity, while
technical issues with the alumina has been fixed.
Other mining firms also showed positive trends on mixed metals
prices. Shares of Kazakhmys PLC rose 2.7%, while heavyweights Rio
Tinto PLC (RIO) and BHP Billiton PLC (BHP) each put on 1%.
Also among notable gainers in London, shares of Royal Bank of
Scotland Group PLC (RDSB) added 1.4%. The U.S. Commodity Futures
Trading Commission ordered the bank to pay a $325 million fine to
settle charges of manipulation and attempted manipulation of the
London interbank offered rate.
Shares of Lloyds Banking Group PLC (LYG) gained 1.2%, Standard
Chartered PLC rose 0.9% and sector heavyweight HSBC Holdings PLC
(HBC) shed 0.5%.
On a more downbeat note, shares of BP PLC (BP) lost 0.6%. The
oil giant on Tuesday said its profit was hurt by the fallout from
the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill and dropped 72% in the fourth
quarter, although beating market expectations.
Oil prices were lower.
Unilever PLC (UL) dropped 1.2% as the shares went
ex-dividend.
Across the Irish Sea, shares of Elan Corp. PLC slid 8.8%, after
the biotech firm said Biogen Idec Inc. (BIIB) will pay $3.25
billion to gain full ownership and control of the
multiple-sclerosis drug Tysabri.
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