LONDON MARKETS: U.K. Stocks On Track For Sixth Straight Win After ECB Launches Bond-buying Plan

By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.K. stocks marched toward a sixth consecutive rise Thursday, riding higher along with other European markets, after the European Central Bank said it's ready to unleash more liquidity into the financial system.

The FTSE 100 climbed 0.9% to 6,787.22. Earlier, it briefly pushed above 1% after ECB President Mario Draghi said the bank in March will begin buying 60 billion euros ($69.8 billion) a month in national and agency bonds through September 2016.

The oil and gas group was up more than 2%, pushed higher as oil prices swung into positive territory. Oil producer BG Group PLC surged 4%. Metals stocks also rose, with miner Glencore PLC jumping 4.5%.

Pressure has been growing on the ECB to launch more-aggressive efforts to combat low inflation and encourage economic growth in the eurozone, the U.K.'s biggest trading partner. In his press conference, Draghi said economic risks remain to the downside, but that inflation should pick up later this year.

On the FTSE 100, Royal Mail PLC shares jumped rose 3.3% 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 were up 3.7% following a ratings upgrade, to outperform from neutral, at Credit Suisse.

Shares of Barclays PLC switched higher by 1.9%. They had been lower earlier 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.

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