LONDON MARKETS: U.K. Stocks Higher, But Unilever Lags

By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.K. stocks moved higher Tuesday, with commodity stocks moving higher after a better-than-expected economic-growth figure from China.

But shares of Unilever PLC came under pressure after downbeat comments on demand from the consumer-goods heavyweight.

The FTSE 100 rose 0.4% to 6,608.53, with gains across all sectors. Topping the advancers were retailer Sports Direct International PLC and banking firm Barclays PLC , up by 3.2% and 1.8%, respectively.

Most mining shares rose after China -- a key buyer of commodities -- said gross domestic product rose 7.4% in 2014, above expectations for growth of 7.2% and in line with the government's target of about 7.5%. Still, the growth figure was the weakest since 1990.

Among miners, Anglo American PLC rose 1.8%, Fresnillo PLC gained 1.3%, and Glencore PLC picked up 0.8%.

In a trading update, Rio Tinto PLC logged an 11% rise in full-year production of iron ore, slightly ahead of its target of 295 million tons. But its shares were in the red, falling 1.8%.

Unilever PLC shares fell 0.9% after the company said it still saw weakening demand in emerging markets last year. Full-year revenue fell 2.7% to 48.4 billion euros, hurt by a 20% sales decline in China in the fourth quarter. Full-year profit, however, increased by 6.8% to 5.17 billion euros.

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