LONDON MARKETS: GlaxoSmithKline Pushes FTSE 100 Lower

By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.K. stocks dropped after four straight week of gains on Monday, with shares of GlaxoSmithKline PLC adding pressure after the drug maker admitted some executives may have broken Chinese law.

The FTSE 100 index lost 0.2% to 6,615.03.

Glaxo shares (GSK) fell 1.6% after the pharma giant said some of its senior executives appeared to have violated Chinese law. The statement came after Chinese officials alleged that the company was involved in widespread bribery in the country in order to get health-care providers to prescribe its products.

AstraZeneca PLC (AZN) lost 0.4%.

Precious metals firm advanced, as gold and silver prices showed solid gains. Shares of Fresnillo PLC added 3.1%. Randgold Resources Ltd. climbed 2.8% to GBP46.52 after Morgan Stanley lifted the price target on the miner to GBP49 from GBP46.

"RRS operates high-quality assets that are still capable of generating substantial cash flows (albeit diminished) in the current gold price environment," the analysts said.

"The company conservatively maintains a solid balance sheet and could sustain a net cash position while fully funding its growth capex through 2014," they added.

Shares of Anglo American PLC rose 0.4% after its subsidiary Anglo American Platinum Ltd. swung to a profit in the first half of the year, helped by better sales volumes.

Oil firms were also helped higher by a rise in oil prices. BG Group PLC added 1.1%, and Tullow Oil PLC rose 0.6%.

Barclays PLC (BCS) rose 1%. South Africa's Absa Group Ltd. said it has received regulatory approval to take over Barclay's African operations.

Also in the news in the U.K. on Monday, the Duchess of Cambridge was early in the morning admitted to hospital in the early stages of labor. The baby will be the first born of Prince William and his wife Kate, and will be third in line to the British throne.

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