By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch

BP, Shell fall as oil prices slide again

U.K. stocks rose Wednesday, with the benchmark FTSE 100 winning back a small portion of losses from the previous day's selloff, as some shares advanced on ratings upgrades.

The FTSE 100 rose 0.6% to 6,097.26 with all but the oil and gas sector moving higher. The blue-chip index on Tuesday dropped 3% (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ftse-100-falls-as-weak-china-data-weighs-on-miners-2015-09-01), shaken as dreary Chinese manufacturing data underscored worries about slowing growth in the world's second-largest economy. The China concerns and uncertainty over the timing of the U.S. Federal Reserve's rate hike also drove U.S. equities to their third-worst loss of the year (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/china-growth-fears-slam-us-stock-futures-sharply-lower-2015-09-01).

Among Wednesday's top gainers, Ashtead Group (AHT.LN) shares climbed 4.8% after the equipment-rental company said its full-year results should be in line with its expectations and posted a sharp rise in first-quarter earnings (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ashtead-earnings-rise-confident-about-full-year-2015-09-02).

Chip-designer ARM Holdings PLC (ARMH) was up 2.5% after J.P. Morgan raised its rating to neutral from underweight.

Hikma Pharmaceuticals PLC (HIK.LN) climbed 5.3% to GBP23.31 ($35.48). Barclays has raised its price target on Hikma to GBP27.60 in the wake of Hikma's planned purchase of generic drug maker Roxane Laboratories.

Shares of Merlin Entertainments PLC (MERL.LN) rose 1.6% after UBS raised its rating on amusement park operator to buy from neutral.

Decliners included BP PLC (BP.LN), with shares off 0.3% as oil prices fell more than 1%. Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB.LN) (RDSB.LN) shares were down 1.3%. Oil prices came under pressure late Monday after the American Petroleum Institute reported an unexpected rise in weekly crude supplies (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/oil-prices-drop-after-api-data-show-weekly-jump-in-crude-supplies-2015-09-01).

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

September 02, 2015 04:46 ET (08:46 GMT)