LONDON MARKETS: HSBC Shares Lead Climb In U.K. Stocks

By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- HSBC PLC shares rose Monday following the banking heavyweight's financial results, helping to lift the benchmark FTSE 100 index.

HSBC's (HSBC)first-half net profit declined to $9.46 billion from $10 billion in the first half of 2013 as business slowed in investment banking and some of its key Asian markets. Underlying revenue fell 4% to $31.36 billion. The declines were expected by analysts.

Investec on Monday noted HSBC's global banking and markets revenue fell 10% quarter-over-quarter to $4.6 billion in the second quarter -- "respectable in a broader industry context, partially reflecting HSBC's better positioned geographic/product as well as FX support."

HSBC shares tacked on 2%, topping the FTSE 100 index , which rose 0.5% to 6,709.63. The index earlier in the session teetered toward the red, and a loss on Monday would be the index's fourth in a row. Last week, it fell by 1.7%.

Intertek Group shares were also among the strongest gainers in London, rising 2.5%. The safety and testing products company raised its increased interim dividend by 7% to 16 pence a share, from the year-earlier period.

Oil companies and miners also advanced, with BP (BP) up 0.6%. Decliners included tobacco producer British American Tobacco with its shares off 0.2%.

Meanwhile, the pound (GBPUSD) was little changed against the U.S. dollar after U.K. construction fell to 62.4 in July, according to the Markit/CIPS purchasing managers' index. The consensus estimate was for a reading of 62, and the reading in June was 62.4. The pound bought $1.6818, compared with $1.6822 ahead of the data and around $1.6825 late Friday.

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