LONDON MARKETS: Royal Mail Gains; FTSE 100 Edges Up Ahead Of ECB Meeting

By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.K. stocks edged higher Thursday, with the benchmark FTSE 100 leaning toward a sixth consecutive rise, as investors wait for a highly anticipated policy meeting by the European Central Bank.

The FTSE 100 gained 0.1% to 6,736.28, with commodity shares outperforming a decline in prices for oil and most metals. Oil producer BG Group were up 0.9%, and miner Anglo American PLC picked up 1.7%.

Royal Mail PLC shares jumped to the top of the British benchmark. They were up 4.2% after the delivery company backed its view of 1% revenue growth for the nine months ended Dec. 28, citing its performance over the Christmas period.

Also higher, shares of RSA Insurance Group PLC rose 2.9% following a ratings upgrade to outperform from neutral at Credit Suisse.

But shares of Barclays PLC were off 0.2% after the New York Attorney General's office on Wednesday filed an amended complaint that the bank misled clients about the way it ran its dark pool.

Investors are looking to the ECB, which is widely expected to announce plans to launch sovereign bond-buying, to provide further stimulus for the U.K.'s largest trading partner, the eurozone. On Wednesday, The Wall Street Journal reported the ECB's executive board would call for bond purchases of roughly 50 billion euros ($58 billion) a month for a minimum of one year. The policy decision is expected at 12:45 p.m. London time, or 7:45 a.m. Eastern Time. ECB President Mario Draghi will hold a press conference at 1:30 p.m. London time.

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