London Markets: FTSE 100 rises to 2013 high, miners rise

By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch

LONDON (MarketWatch) ? London?s benchmark stock index rose for a fourth straight day on Wednesday, with mining firms joining a risk-on rally, while Vodafone Group PLC dropped on acquisition rumors.

The FTSE 100 index /quotes/zigman/3173262 UK:UKX +0.33% ?added 0.3% to close at 6,359.11, marking the highest closing level since May 2008.

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Shares of Tullow Oil PLC /quotes/zigman/271296 UK:TLW +6.78% ?jumped 6.8%, after the oil-exploration company provided better-than-expected test results from some of its Kenya wells.

The company also reported a drop in 2012 net profit but kept its dividend unchanged and said it has a strong platform for growth. See: Tullow Oil: Profit falls 4%, maintaining dividend

Also in the oil industry, shares of Petrofac Ltd. /quotes/zigman/391992 UK:PFC +2.03% ?rose 2%, as UBS lifted the oil-services firm to buy from neutral. See: Oil wavers; traders parse through conflicting data

Mining firms were on the rise. See: HSBC lifts forecast for silver in 2013-14

Shares of Rio Tinto PLC /quotes/zigman/155899 UK:RIO +2.37% ? /quotes/zigman/182541/quotes/nls/rio RIO +1.87% /quotes/zigman/176317 AU:RIO +2.07% ?gained 2.4%, BHP Billiton PLC /quotes/zigman/184879 UK:BLT +1.95% /quotes/zigman/270355/quotes/nls/bhp BHP +1.29% ? /quotes/zigman/180893 AU:BHP +0.88% ?picked up 2% and Anglo American PLC /quotes/zigman/470624 UK:AAL +1.77% ?rose 1.8%.

Tullow Oil advances on Wednesday after saying it sees strong growth.

Shares of Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC /quotes/zigman/482114 UK:RB +1.28% ?rose 1.3%. The consumer-products firm said it will grow its health-and-hygiene business faster than expected. And it proposed to lift its dividend 11%. See: Reckitt focuses on health, hygiene as profit rises

On a downbeat note, shares of cruise-line operator Carnival PLC /quotes/zigman/321074 UK:CCL -2.02% /quotes/zigman/322132/quotes/nls/ccl CCL -4.00% ?lost 2%. The company said Tuesday that one of its ships carrying 4,200 travelers remained adrift in the Gulf of Mexico after a fire but was waiting to be towed to a port in Alabama. See: Disabled Carnival cruise ship in third day adrift

Shares of Vodafone /quotes/zigman/101873/quotes/nls/vod VOD -2.13% ? /quotes/zigman/421253 UK:VOD -1.07% ?lost 1.1%, after a news report, citing unnamed sources, said the wireless-telecom firm was considering a possible takeover of German cable network operator Kabel Deutschland Holding AG /quotes/zigman/590596 DE:KD8 +8.53% . A representative from Vodafone said the company doesn?t comment on market rumors. See: Vodafone may buy Kabel Deutschland: report .

Banks declined, following a solid session on Tuesday, when upbeat earnings from Barclays PLC /quotes/zigman/301787 UK:BARC -0.41% ? /quotes/zigman/152323/quotes/nls/bcs BCS -1.70% sent the sector higher. Barclays shares dropped 0.4% on Wednesday, while Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC /quotes/zigman/10330253 UK:RBS -0.37% ? /quotes/zigman/530544/quotes/nls/rbs RBS -1.44% ?fell 0.4% and Lloyds Banking Group PLC /quotes/zigman/126322 UK:LLOY -0.27% ? /quotes/zigman/255656/quotes/nls/lyg LYG -1.44% ?gave up 0.3%.

Outside the main index in London, shares of beverage firm Britvic PLC /quotes/zigman/399163 UK:BVIC -8.70% sank 8.7%. The U.K.?s Office of Fair Trading said it referred the proposed acquisition by A.G. Barr PLC /quotes/zigman/10258011 UK:BAG -7.12% to the Competition Commission because of concerns that competition between certain brands would be reduced. A.G. Barr shares slumped 7.1%. See: Barr-Britvic merger under further investigation

Meanwhile, the Bank of England raised its forecast for inflation, signaling it will overshoot its 2% target over the two-year forecast period and said the economy is likely to post slow growth. BOE Governor Mervyn King warned that tightening policy in an attempt to bring inflation to target posed the risk of ?derailing the recovery.?

/quotes/zigman/3173262

UK : FTSE Indices

Volume: 0.00

Feb. 13, 2013 4:35p

/quotes/zigman/271296

UK : U.K.: London

Volume: 6.23M

Feb. 13, 2013 4:35p

Market Cap

?10.71 billion

/quotes/zigman/391992

UK : U.K.: London

Volume: 1.07M

Feb. 13, 2013 4:35p

Rev. per Employee

?302,667

/quotes/zigman/155899

UK : U.K.: London

Volume: 5.90M

Feb. 13, 2013 4:35p

Market Cap

?51.80 billion

Rev. per Employee

?527,959

/quotes/zigman/182541/quotes/nls/rio

US : U.S.: NYSE

Volume: 2.36M

Feb. 13, 2013 4:04p

Rev. per Employee

$836,487

/quotes/zigman/176317

AU : Australia: Sydney

Volume: 35,717

Feb. 13, 2013 4:47p

Rev. per Employee

$811,248

/quotes/zigman/184879

UK : U.K.: London

Volume: 5.31M

Feb. 13, 2013 4:35p

Market Cap

?45.43 billion

Rev. per Employee

?983,627

/quotes/zigman/270355/quotes/nls/bhp

US : U.S.: NYSE

Volume: 1.33M

Feb. 13, 2013 4:00p

Market Cap

$124.95 billion

/quotes/zigman/180893

AU : Australia: Sydney

Volume: 6,423

Feb. 13, 2013 4:47p

Market Cap

$121.21 billion

/quotes/zigman/470624

UK : U.K.: London

Volume: 2.97M

Feb. 13, 2013 4:35p

Market Cap

?27.52 billion

Rev. per Employee

?183,228

/quotes/zigman/482114

UK : U.K.: London

Volume: 2.45M

Feb. 13, 2013 4:35p

Market Cap

?31.38 billion

Rev. per Employee

?251,508

/quotes/zigman/321074

UK : U.K.: London

Volume: 887,902

Feb. 13, 2013 4:35p

Rev. per Employee

?106,500

/quotes/zigman/322132/quotes/nls/ccl

US : U.S.: NYSE

Volume: 7.60M

Feb. 13, 2013 4:00p

Rev. per Employee

$171,483

/quotes/zigman/101873/quotes/nls/vod

US : U.S.: Nasdaq

Volume: 15.03M

Feb. 13, 2013 4:00p

Market Cap

$132.98 billion

Rev. per Employee

$867,308

/quotes/zigman/421253

UK : U.K.: London

Volume: 141.80M

Feb. 13, 2013 4:35p

Market Cap

?84.91 billion

Rev. per Employee

?517,257

/quotes/zigman/590596

DE : Germany: Frankfurt

Volume: 4,416

Feb. 13, 2013 7:48p

Market Cap

?5.63 billion

Rev. per Employee

?635,171

/quotes/zigman/301787

UK : U.K.: London

Volume: 86.16M

Feb. 13, 2013 4:35p

Market Cap

?40.08 billion

Rev. per Employee

?276,634

/quotes/zigman/152323/quotes/nls/bcs

US : U.S.: NYSE

Volume: 3.64M

Feb. 13, 2013 4:00p

Rev. per Employee

$437,826

/quotes/zigman/10330253

UK : U.K.: London

Volume: 8.64M

Feb. 13, 2013 4:35p

Market Cap

?39.57 billion

Rev. per Employee

?229,355

/quotes/zigman/530544/quotes/nls/rbs

US : U.S.: NYSE

Volume: 386,427

Feb. 13, 2013 4:01p

Rev. per Employee

$363,431

/quotes/zigman/126322

UK : U.K.: London

Volume: 143.32M

Feb. 13, 2013 4:35p

Market Cap

?39.05 billion

Rev. per Employee

?360,302

/quotes/zigman/255656/quotes/nls/lyg

US : U.S.: NYSE

Volume: 3.23M

Feb. 13, 2013 4:05p

Rev. per Employee

$574,687

/quotes/zigman/399163

UK : U.K.: London

Volume: 5.33M

Feb. 13, 2013 4:35p

Rev. per Employee

?376,506

/quotes/zigman/10258011

UK : U.K.: London

Volume: 238,832

Feb. 13, 2013 4:35p

Market Cap

?648.07 million

Rev. per Employee

?250,044

Sara Sjolin is a MarketWatch reporter based in London. Follow her on Twitter @sarasjolin.

Source: http://feeds.marketwatch.com/~r/marketwatch/financial/~3/FChUPU9o9-Y/story.asp

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