By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch)--The U.K.'s FTSE 100 eked out a small gain
Wednesday following a choppy session that saw GlaxoSmithKline PLC
among the session's decliners on concerns about a regulatory probe
of the drug maker.
The FTSE 100 edged up 0.1% to 6,851.22. The modest move was
aided in part by a 4.3% rise in shares of Smith & Nephew PLC
that topped the index's advancers. The shares came off a brief
spike of 18% after medical-device maker Stryker Corp. (SYK) said it
hadn't made a bid for the London-based artificial joints maker.
London Stock Exchange Group also advanced, rising 2.6% as the
exchange operator was added to Credit Suisse's Europe focus list.
The LSE's rating remained at outperform.
But sector losses were led by miners as prices for gold,
platinum and other metals were under pressure. Anglo-American
shares gave up 1.9%, Rio Tinto PLC pulled back 1.8% and BHP
Billiton PLC (BHP) fell 1.3%.
Glaxo shares sat near the bottom of the benchmark, losing 1.6%
as the drug maker said British regulators are looking into its
commercial practices. No details of the action were included in a
Tuesday statement, but Glaxo said it would fully cooperate with the
U.K.'s Serious Fraud Office.
The probe comes as Glaxo tries to clear up allegations from
Chinese officials that executives orchestrated the bribery of
doctors and health-care groups in China to boost drug sales.
The FTSE 100 on Tuesday logged a 0.4% advance that left the
index with its highest close in more than a week.
Outside of daily market moves, Bank of England Gov. Mark Carney
on Tuesday called on bankers to reform behavior that lead to
misdeeds in the financial sector that risk undermining public
support for free markets.
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