LONDON MARKETS: FTSE 100 Higher, Pound Flat Ahead Of U.K. Inflation Data

By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch

Experian gains after ratings upgrade

U.K. stocks rose Tuesday, with ratings upgrade for Experian PLC helping to lift the benchmark FTSE 100. Meanwhile, the pound was flat ahead of the release of U.K. inflation data.

The FTSE 100 gained 0.2% to 6,096.21, winning back a slice of Monday's 0.5% loss. (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ftse-100-starts-week-higher-as-miners-shrug-off-chinese-data-2015-09-14)

Movers: Experian PLC (EXPN.LN) gained 1.4%, holding the top spot on the blue-chip index, after the credit-reporting company's rating was upgraded to buy at Deutsche Bank.

Meanwhile, shares of BP PLC (BP.LN) were up 0.4% as oil prices moved modestly higher. Also, BP and oil major BG Group PLC (BG.LN) were each upgraded to buy ratings at Liberum Capital.

But shares of Kingfisher PLC (KGF.LN) fell to the bottom of the FTSE 100, losing 2.4% after the home-improvement retailer said pretax profit fell in the first half, in part due to foreign exchange losses (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/kingfisher-profit-hurt-by-currency-losses-2015-09-15-348592).

On the midcap FTSE 250, Ocado Group PLC (OCDO.LN) shares rose 4% after the online grocer reported a 17% rise in third-quarter sales (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/online-grocer-ocado-posts-173-rise-in-sales-2015-09-15).

Sterling eyes BOE: The pound was trading at $1.5427, on par with where it traded late Monday in New York. Inflation figures for the U.K. in August will be released at 9:30 a.m. London time, or 4:30 a.m. Eastern Time by the Office for National Statistics.

"We look for the headline CPI measure to drop back to 0.0% [year-over-year] (dragged down by energy) but still see CPI inflation jumping to over 1% [year-over-year] by January," said Sue Trinh, senior currency strategist at RBC Capital Markets, in a note.

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September 15, 2015 04:00 ET (08:00 GMT)

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