LONDON MARKETS: FTSE 100 Eyes First Win In Four As Oil, Miners Rise; Royal Mail Drops

By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.K. stocks rose Tuesday, with gains for the embattled resources-sector leading the FTSE 100 toward its first win in four sessions.

The FTSE 100 rose 0.7% to 6,702.32, with shares of Tullow Oil PLC rising 4.8% to become the strongest advancer on the benchmark.

Tullow shares had tumbled nearly 22% since Thursday as part of a broader selloff in the oil sector after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries held to its production target. That decision was a disappointment to investors, who had looked to the group to address oversupply and a related slide in prices.

Also higher, oil firm BG Group PLC climbed 3.3%, Royal Dutch Shell PLC tacked on 2.2% and BP PLC gained 2%.

Oil prices turned higher on Monday, but were back in negative territory on Tuesday, with New York Mercantile Exchange, light, sweet crude futures for January delivery (CLF5) down 0.4% at $68.79 in electronic dealings.

Mining stocks were also higher, getting a break from recent selling as the industry grapples with slowing in the Chinese economy and a slump in iron-ore prices. Shares of Anglo American PLC rose 3.5%, and Rio Tinto PLC (RIO) was pushed 2.2% higher.

Friends Life Group Ltd. shares bounced up 2.8% after the company and Aviva PLC agreed on a 5.6 billion pound ($8.8 billion) deal that would create the U.K.'s largest insurance, savings and asset-management company. Aviva shares were up 0.2%.

But shares of Royal Mail PLC fell 1.8% after regulator Ofcom said it won't impose new conditions on Royal Mail's direct-delivery competitors as the "universal postal service is not currently under threat."

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