UK stocks rise, led by Lloyds, Hays, Old Mutual advance
Friday, 9 July 2010
LONDON, July 8 (Bloomberg): UK stocks rose for a third day as the International Monetary Fund's increased global growth forecast and statements from Hays Plc to Galliford Try Plc suggested the economic recovery is intact.
Lloyds Banking Group Plc climbed 4.3 per cent, leading the benchmark FTSE 100 Index higher, as Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Research reiterated its view that shares of the lender may double within two years. Old Mutual Plc advanced 1.9 per cent after Sky News reported that HSBC Holdings Plc is in the early stages of assessing a bid for Nedbank Group Ltd., which is majority owned by Old Mutual.
The FTSE 100 rose 67.59, or 1.4 per cent, to 5,082.41 as of 12:02 pm in London. The gauge remains 13 per cent below this year's high on April 15 amid concern that growth will be curbed by austerity measures from European governments cutting their budget deficits and as economic reports in the US and China disappointed investors. The FTSE All-Share Index and Ireland's ISEQ Index also advanced 1 per cent today.
The slump in stocks in the second quarter "was no more than a normal correction often seen in year two of a bull market," Robert Parkes, a London-based strategist at HSBC Holdings Plc wrote in a report. "With expectations low and valuations extremely cheap, we look for stocks to rally 16 per cent by year-end."
Lloyds Banking Group Plc climbed 4.3 per cent, leading the benchmark FTSE 100 Index higher, as Bank of America Merrill Lynch Global Research reiterated its view that shares of the lender may double within two years. Old Mutual Plc advanced 1.9 per cent after Sky News reported that HSBC Holdings Plc is in the early stages of assessing a bid for Nedbank Group Ltd., which is majority owned by Old Mutual.
The FTSE 100 rose 67.59, or 1.4 per cent, to 5,082.41 as of 12:02 pm in London. The gauge remains 13 per cent below this year's high on April 15 amid concern that growth will be curbed by austerity measures from European governments cutting their budget deficits and as economic reports in the US and China disappointed investors. The FTSE All-Share Index and Ireland's ISEQ Index also advanced 1 per cent today.
The slump in stocks in the second quarter "was no more than a normal correction often seen in year two of a bull market," Robert Parkes, a London-based strategist at HSBC Holdings Plc wrote in a report. "With expectations low and valuations extremely cheap, we look for stocks to rally 16 per cent by year-end."