LONDON: U.K. stocks advanced following a four-day loss led by gains in Rio Tinto Group.
Rio Tinto and gained 2.8 percent after the world’s second-biggest mining company said it plans to spend $2 billion in a share buyback and reported full-year profit that beat estimates. Anglo American Plc gained 1.8 percent.
Diageo Plc lost 1 percent after Goldman Sachs Group Inc. recommended investors sell shares of the world’s biggest distiller.
BP Plc, Royal Dutch Shell Plc and Sage Group are among companies trading ex-dividend, trimming 12.8 points of the FTSE 100 Index.
The FTSE 100 added 28.61 points, or 0.4 percent, to 6,846.78 at 9:13 a.m. in London. The benchmark gauge fell 0.7 percent in the last four days amid a decline in commodity producers and investor concern Greece won’t reach an agreement on new bailout terms. The broader FTSE All-Share Index added 0.4 percent, while Ireland’s ISEQ Index dropped 0.4 percent.
