By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Stocks in the U.K. rose Tuesday, with Ashtead Group PLC and Taylor Wimpey PLC gaining following financial updates, but Barclays PLC and miner Glencore PLC among decliners.

The FTSE 100 rose 0.3% to 6,959.57, fluttering in record-high territory.

Taylor Wimpey gained 1.1% after it posted a 53% climb in full-year pretax profit. The home builder also said its order book of 1.66 billion pounds ($2.55 billion) puts the company in a solid position for 2015.

Ashtead Group PLC shares picked up 1.1% as it forecast full-year results to come in ahead of earlier expectations (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ashtead-full-year-pretax-profit-rises-33-2015-03-03). The equipment-rental company said third-quarter pretax profit rose 33% to GBP109.9 million.

Also, shares of Tullow Oil climbed 2%, winning back a slice of its nearly 8% loss on Monday. Its shares are under pressure on speculation the drop in the oil producer's market capitalization will result in it exiting the FTSE 100.

But Glencore shares were down 2.9%, at the bottom of the FTSE 100, although the miner swung to a net profit of $2.31 billion for 2014 (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/glencore-returns-to-profit-despite-commodity-slump-2015-03-03).

Barclays shares fell 2.3% as the bank heavyweight said fines and legal costs pushed it to a net loss of 174 million pounds (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/barclays-posts-net-loss-on-fines-legal-costs-2015-03-03) ($267.4 million) for the year, as it set aside an extra GBP750 million in provision for an investigation into foreign-exchange markets.

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