LONDON MARKETS: FTSE 100 Gains For Fifth Day As Mining Shares Rise

By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Resource-sector gains led the key benchmark tracking U.K. stocks to a fifth straight advance Tuesday, while shares of GlaxoSmithKline PLC also rose, gaining after a broker upgrade.

The FTSE 100 index rose 0.7% to 6,339.19 the highest closing level since May 2008.

However, shares of Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC (RBS) slumped 6%. On Monday, Goldman Sachs downgraded its rating to sell from neutral previously.

Also, The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday reported that U.S. authorities are pushing RBS to settle allegations of rigging interest rates that would include pleading guilty to criminal charges as well as a fine.

RBS executives are resisting the push for a guilty plea, the report said. A representative from the bank said in emailed comments that "discussions with various authorities in relation to Libor setting are ongoing. We continue to cooperate fully with their investigations." .

Also in the sector, shares of Lloyds Banking Group PLC fell 2.3% as Barclays PLC (BCS) dropped 1.6%.

Shares of Anglo American PLC put in one of the best performances in the London index, up 3%. The company said that it would write down the value of its Minas-Rio iron-ore project by $4 billion but that management remains confident in the project's medium- and long-term attractiveness.

Other miners were also on the rise, as most metals prices showed positive moves. Shares of Kazakhmys PLC gained 2.9%, Rio Tinto PLC (RIO) put on 2% and BHP Billiton PLC rose 1.9%.

Energy shares further advanced, as crude-oil futures (CLH3) in New York climbed above $97 a barrel for the first time since mid-September. Brent crude for March delivery also tallied gains, reaching $114 a barrel.

Bothe BP PLC (BP) and Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB) gained 1.5% as BG Group PLC rose 0.8%.

Shares of GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) added 1.6%, after Barclays raised its rating on the drug maker to overweight from equal weight.

"We believe that stabilization in the earnings outlook could mark a change in sentiment toward the shares and a greater appreciation that GSK is entering a stable period of consistent 3% growth with modest pipeline assumptions," Barclays analysts wrote.

Also higher in London, Tesco PLC (TESO) picked up 1.5%, after data from Kantar consumer panel showed the supermarket retailer for the 12 weeks to Jan. 20 maintained its market share and grew with the same rate as the market for the first time since June 2011.

Shares of Experian PLC shed 0.2%. The credit-check company said its 2013 guidance, which was laid out in the third-quarter earnings statement earlier in January, remains unchanged.

Outside the main index in London, shares of Hunting PLC slumped 2.9%. J.P. Morgan Cazenove cut its rating on the oil-services firm to underweight from neutral.

The bank also lowered to neutral from overweight its rating on John Wood Group PLC , shares of which traded 0.1% lower.

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