By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- The U.K.'s FTSE 100 climbed for a third
straight day on Thursday, tracking a positive mood in the U.S. and
the rest of Europe.
The FTSE 100 ended 0.2% higher at 6,463.55, after swinging
between gains and losses. Stocks in Europe and the U.S. also traded
higher on the back of some solid earnings and better-than-expected
U.S. growth data.
Among major gainers in London, shares of St. James's Place PLC
climbed 3.6% after the wealth manager said funds under management
climbed in the third quarter.
Shares of Barclays PLC (BCS) ended 0.9% higher after trading
both in positive and negative territory throughout the session. The
bank reported third-quarter adjusted pretax profit that beat
expectations, but booked a 500-million pound ($800 million) legal
provision related to investigations into the alleged manipulation
of the foreign-exchange market.
Other banks also rose. Shares of Royal Bank of Scotland Group
PLC (RBS) gained 1.5% and Lloyds Banking Group PLC's (LYG) climbed
0.9%.
Mining firms weakened capping gains for the FTSE.
Precious-metals miners posted the biggest losses as gold
prices(GCZ4) slumped more than 2%. Shares of Randgold Resources
Ltd. lost 6%, and Fresnillo PLC dropped 4.3%. Among larger miners,
Anglo American PLC gave up 2.4%, Rio Tinto PLC (RIO) slipped 1.3%,
and BHP Billiton PLC (BHP) dropped 0.9%.
Outside the main index in London, Balfour Beatty PLC fell 1%
after Jefferies cut the construction company to underperform from
hold.
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires