By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- ITV PLC led U.K. stocks higher Tuesday,
playing off a well-received trading update, but Vodafone Group PLC
lost ground as the wireless-telecom carrier printed a six-month
loss.
The FTSE 100 index gained 0.3% to 5,786.25 in choppy trading,
snapping a four-session losing streak.
Jumping the most in the index, shares of ITV rallied 9%. The
commercial-television network reported rising revenue for the nine
months to Sept. 30.
The broader U.K. market traded in the red for most of the
session but scored late gains as U.S. and European equity
benchmarks erased losses. and
Risk-sensitive sectors, such as banks and oils, posted some of
the biggest gains in the London index.
Shares of Lloyds Banking Group PLC (LYG) gained 3.1%, while
Barclays PLC (BCS) rose 1% and heavyweight HSBC Holdings PLC (HBC)
picked up 0.8%.
In the energy sector, Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB) saw its
shares add 0.9% as BP PLC (BP) rose 0.4%. Shares of BG Group PLC
gained as well, up 0.2%.
Bucking the positive trend in London, shares of Vodafone (VOD)
slumped 2.5%.
For the first half to Sept. 30, the company had a loss of 1.98
billion pounds ($3.14 billion), a reversal from a profit of
£6.68 billion in the same period a year earlier, hit by
impairments for Spain and Italy. Economic woes for the two
countries have forced Vodafone to widen discounts.
On the data front Tuesday, the annualized CPI inflation rate
rose to 2.7% in October from 2.2% in September, above market
expectations.
"As we had largely expected, the key drivers were the near
tripling in university tuition fees; a modest tightening in various
VAT loopholes; firmer car prices; and a jump in food price
inflation," analysts at Investec Securities said in a note.
The data came a day ahead of the Bank of England's keenly
awaited quarterly inflation report.
"While we are not especially concerned about the strength of
inflation over the medium term, our own forecasts show the targeted
measure rising above 3.5% by mid-2013," the Investec analysts
said.
Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires