Oil Firms Boost FTSE 100 After Upgrade

Oil firms led U.K. stocks higher after a broker upgrade on Monday, while shares of GlaxoSmithKline PLC also showed upbeat moves after a target price lift.

The FTSE 100 index  climbed 0.6% to 6,346.22, partly recovering from four straight weeks of losses.

Shares of Reckitt Benckiser Group PLC  added 1.7% after analysts at Citigroup said the consumer-products firm is undervalued by the market, particularly in light of its resilience to the recent entry of generic competition in the U.S.

Oil firms were also on the rise after J.P. Morgan Cazenove lifted the sector to overweight from neutral and mentioned BP PLC   as one of its top picks. Shares of BP added 1.3%, Royal Dutch Shell PLC   put on 1.2% and BG Group PLC  gained 0.9%. Oil prices were also higher.

Shares of GlaxoSmithKline PLC   picked up 0.6% to £16.84 after UBS lifted the price target on the drug maker to £17.45 from £14.50, citing improving longer-term prospects and higher sector multiples.

Banks were also inspired by the positive sentiment, with shares of HSBC Holdings PLC    up 1.1%, Lloyds Banking Group PLC   0.6% higher and Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC   rising 0.4%.

Bucking the positive trend in London, shares of Associated British Foods PLC  gave up 1.7% after Nomura cut the firm to reduce from neutral.

Source : Marketwatch