LONDON MARKETS: U.K. Stocks Struggle For Direction After ECB Cut

By Shawn Langlois, MarketWatch

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Stocks returned to flat territory in London on Thursday, losing then regaining ground in the wake of a European Central Bank interest-rate cut and better-than-forecast U.S. data. Shire PLC was among the names losing ground after results.

The FTSE 100 index headed towards a flat close for the day, at 6,452.82.

Shire PLC fell 6.6% after the drug maker said it sees full-year sales in the mid-to-high single digits, lower than its prior view. Its revenue fell short of expectations in a poll from Bloomberg.

Glencore International PLC rose over 6% after saying its merger with Xstrata PLC is now complete.

BG Group rose 3% after the oil and natural gas company reported a 0.8% decline in net profit for the first quarter, but said it was on track to meet project milestones for this year. Imperial Tobacco added 2.4%.

Royal Dutch Shell was another winner from the oil and gas sector, up 0.8% after the company said Chief Executive Peter Voser will retire in 2014.

Shares of Legal & General Group PLC rose over 2% after the insurer said outlook for its business is strong after posting a forecast-beating 28% rise in total first-quarter new business sales, helped by better performances for U.S. and U.K. businesses.

As for the ECB, its main refinancing rate will be lowered by 25 basis points to 0.5% while the rate on the marginal lending facility will be cut by 50 basis points to 1%. At a news conference, ECB President Mario Draghi said the central bank's monetary policy would remain accommodative. Read the full story.

Shares in London also failed to catch much of a lift from U.S. jobless claims falling to a five-year low, which boosted U.S. markets on Thursday.

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