LONDON MARKETS: FTSE 100 Rises, But BHP Billiton Shares Struggle

By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch

U.K. stocks rose Monday, with Babcock International Group PLC gaining after an upbeat financial update. But BHP Billiton PLC shares fell after the Australian debut of its mining spinoff South 32.

The FTSE 100 rose 0.6% to 7,000.63. The move erased Friday's decline of 0.2% (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ftse-100-gains-as-sabmiller-rises-but-heads-for-weekly-loss-2015-05-15), when British and European stocks dropped as poor U.S. data underscored concerns about growth in the world's largest economy.

Advancers on Monday included Babcock . Its shares rose 1.1% after the engineering and defense services company raised its dividend by 10% (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/babcock-lifts-dividend-10-as-yearly-profit-climbs-2015-05-18) and as its full-year pretax profit rose 43% to 313.1 million pounds ($492.4 million). Revenue climbed 20% to GBP4 billion.

But BHP Billiton's (BHP) shares fell 5.5% after the trading debut in Australia of new company South32 Ltd. , which comprises BHP's non-core assets. The shares opened at 2.13 Australian dollars ($1.71) each, which was toward the lower end of market expectations, according to Dow Jones Newswires, citing analysts.

There are no key data releases scheduled for Monday.

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