LONDON MARKETS: AstraZeneca, Anglo American Push FTSE To 7-week High

By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.K.'s FTSE 100 index headed for its highest close in almost seven weeks on Thursday, with Anglo American and AstraZeneca leading stocks higher after well-received trading updates.

The London benchmark advanced 0.5% to 6,709.86, climbing back after a 0.1% decline on Wednesday.

Shares of Anglo American PLC led gainers in the index, up 3%, after the miner said output rose in the first quarter, with iron-ore production up 10% due to solid performances from its two South African iron-ore mines.

Other mining firms tracked Anglo American higher, with shares of Fresnillo PLC up 1.3%, Rio Tinto PLC (RIO) rising 1.3%, and BHP Billiton PLC (BHP) 0.7% higher.

Also lifting the FTSE 100, shares of AstraZeneca PLC (AZN) climbed 2.8% after the drug maker confirmed its 2014 financial guidance. The company, however, posted a fall in first-quarter profit as sales of its best-selling drugs continued to be squeezed by generic competition.

Earlier in the week, AstraZeneca was among major advancers after a report that Pfizer Inc. (PFE) had approached the U.K. drug maker about a possible merger.

Barclays PLC (BCS) shares gained 1.2%, shaking off the bank's warning that a slowdown in fixed-income trading would push adjusted first-quarter profit lower than in the same quarter last year.

On a more downbeat note in London, shares of Unilever PLC (UL) dropped 1.4% after the consumer-products giant reported a fall in first-quarter sales, as currency weakness across emerging markets continued to weigh on its performance.

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