LONDON MARKETS: FTSE 100 Hits Record High As Standard Chartered Surges

By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.K. stocks finished higher Thursday, leaving the FTSE 100 with a fresh record close, with Standard Chartered PLC surging as the bank named a new chief executive. But stock in Royal Bank of Scotland PLC was dragged lower following financial results and news that the firm planned to shrink.

The FTSE 100 ended up 0.2% at 6,949.73, notching a record closing high. It was two days ago that the blue-chip index marked its best close since December 1999 (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/what-the-ftse-100-closing-at-its-highest-level-in-15-years-means-2015-02-24).

Thursday's advance was led by a 5.4% jump in Standard Chartered PLC . The stock's strongest gain since August 2012 was triggered after the Asia-focused lender said CEO Peter Sands will step down (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/standard-chartered-names-bill-winters-next-ceo-as-it-shakes-up-top-brass-2015-02-26) in June, after eight years in the role. He will be succeeded by Bill Winters, who once served as the co-CEO of J.P. Morgan Investment Bank. Other leadership changes are also planned.

It is now "the right moment to hand over to new leadership," said Sands in a statement. "It has been my privilege to lead the people of Standard Chartered through a period of extraordinary turbulence and growth." Sands had been under pressure to step down as profit had fallen and shares have struggled.

"At this stage, we think this will be well-received as a sign the company is committed to a more substantial overhaul of its strategy in the medium term," said analysts at Credit Suisse in a note. Standard Chartered's annual results are set for release on March 4, and "given that Mr. Winters joins only in May, we think it may be too early to expect any major strategic announcements," the analysts added.

Other advancers included Associated British Foods PLC , rising 1.8% following an upgrade to buy from hold at Berenberg.

On the losing end of the FTSE 100, RBS (RBS) dropped 4.4% after the company logged a 2014 net loss of 3.47 billion pounds (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/rbs-posts-seventh-loss-in-a-row-after-write-down-2015-02-26) ($5.39 billion) after writing down the value of part-owned U.S. unit Citizens Financial Group. The bank's seventh straight loss, which was narrower than last year's loss of GBP9 billion, was the result of several one-off charges.

Reed Elsevier PLC shares also fell, losing 4.8% as the publishing and exhibitions company posted a fall in full-year net profit and revenue (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/reed-elsevier-full-year-profit-falls-2015-02-26-2485424).

EasyJet PLC ended down 2% as the budget airline's shares traded without dividend rights.

In economic news, U.K. gross domestic product was confirmed to have grown 0.5% in the fourth quarter. The first GDP reading from the Office for National Statistics was released in January. The pound had moved higher following the data, but eventually pulled back, trading at $1.5424 compared with $1.5530 late Wednesday in New York.

Subscribe to WSJ: http://online.wsj.com?mod=djnwires