LONDON MARKETS: FTSE 100 Higher As Resource Shares Gain

By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.K. stocks bounced up Friday, led by shares of natural-resources producers, including mining firm Anglo American PLC.

The FTSE 100 index tacked on 0.5% to 6,861.56, with the oil and gas group, and the basic-materials group each higher by 2%.

Oil producer Tullow Oil PLC rose 3.9%, topping the blue-chip index. Oil majors BP PLC (BP) and Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB) were higher by 1.8% and 1.4%, respectively, as oil futures picked up more than 1%.

Anglo American shares were heading 3% higher, as the company posted a 2014 net loss of $2.51 billion on a multibillion-dollar write-down of some iron-ore and coal-mining assets. The loss was wider than its 2013 net loss of $961 million.

The mining company's yearly results were "roughly in-line" with expectations, said Jefferies in a note, with underlying per-share earnings coming in at $1.73, compared with its forecast for $1.64.

Anglo held its 2014 dividend at 85 cents a share from the 2013 level. Jefferies said that move was also in-line with expectations, although its analysts said "we would argue that it would have been more prudent to cut the dividend, in light of the challenging environment and increasing net debt levels." Jefferies maintained its hold rating on Anglo.

Telecommunications provider BT Group PLC led decliners on the FTSE 100 by falling 2%, and cruise operator Carnival PLC gave up 1.4%.

The FTSE 100 is on track for a weekly gain of 0.4%.

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