U.K.’s FTSE 100 gains, buoyed by miners

By Barbara Kollmeyer, MarketWatch

MADRID (MarketWatch) — The U.K.’s benchmark stock index ended higher on Friday, buoyed by gains for mining shares such as Randgold Resources Ltd. and Fresnillo PLC.

The FTSE 100 index /quotes/zigman/3173262 UK:UKX +0.26% rose 0.3% to 6,499.99.

Thursday’s session knocked nearly 1.6% off the index, which was the biggest one-day and percentage decline since June 20, 2013. The losses were sparked by fears about imminent tapering of the U.S. Federal Reserve’s bond-buying program.

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Mining stocks rose on Friday along with gold prices.

Shares of Randgold Resources /quotes/zigman/349729 UK:RRS +5.32% surged 5.3%, Fresnillo PLC /quotes/zigman/510593 UK:FRES +4.18% climbed 4.2%, and Anglo American PLC /quotes/zigman/470624 UK:AAL +3.48% rose 3.5%.

The session’s biggest gainer was Persimmon PLC /quotes/zigman/155560 UK:PSN +8.30% , which rose 8.3%. The shares fell sharply the prior session.

Barclays initiated coverage on three iron-ore stocks outside the main U.K. index: Ferrexpo PLC /quotes/zigman/468607 UK:FXPO +3.17% , up 3.2%; African Minerals Ltd. /quotes/zigman/485291 UK:AMI -2.88% , off nearly 3%; and London Mining PLC /quotes/zigman/464452 UK:LOND +0.45% , which rose 0.5%. Ferrexpo was started at equal weight, while London Mining and African Minerals were started at underweight. Read also: Time to look at gold, silver, miners and ETFs?

There was some downside pressure among the heavyweights. Shares of WPP PLC /quotes/zigman/13528587 UK:WPP -0.34% dropped 0.3%, ARM Holdings PLC /quotes/zigman/67211/quotes/nls/armh ARMH +0.76% /quotes/zigman/254777 UK:ARM -0.51% fell 0.5% and Experian PLC /quotes/zigman/427662 UK:EXPN -0.83% fell 0.8%.

Reuters

Among insurers, shares of Standard Life PLC /quotes/zigman/423566 UK:SL -0.94% fell 0.9%, while Aviva PLC /quotes/zigman/153201 UK:AV -0.54% fell 0.5% after analysts at Exane BNP Paribas cut the shares to neutral from outperform. The analysts also said they prefer Standard Life, where they see “significant operational leverage from the investments unit.

/quotes/zigman/3173262

Add to portfolio UK:UKX

FTSE 100 Index GBP

UK : FTSE Indices

6,499.99

+16.65 +0.26%

Volume: 0.00

Aug. 16, 2013 4:35p

/quotes/zigman/349729

Add to portfolio UK:RRS

Randgold Resources Ltd.

UK : U.K.: London

5,150.00 p

+260.00 +5.32%

Volume: 791,976

Aug. 18, 2013 4:35p

P/E Ratio

21.94

Dividend Yield

0.62%

Market Cap

£4.75 billion

Rev. per Employee

£67,251

/quotes/zigman/510593

Add to portfolio UK:FRES

Fresnillo PLC

UK : U.K.: London

1,172.00 p

+47.00 +4.18%

Volume: 1.47M

Aug. 18, 2013 4:35p

P/E Ratio

0.18

Dividend Yield

0.55%

Market Cap

£8.64 billion

Rev. per Employee

£435,259

/quotes/zigman/470624

Add to portfolio UK:AAL

Anglo American PLC

UK : U.K.: London

1,547.50 p

+52.00 +3.48%

Volume: 3.48M

Aug. 18, 2013 4:35p

P/E Ratio

N/A

Dividend Yield

2.56%

Market Cap

£21.57 billion

Rev. per Employee

£177,432

/quotes/zigman/155560

Add to portfolio UK:PSN

Persimmon PLC

UK : U.K.: London

1,188.00 p

+91.00 +8.30%

Volume: 2.31M

Aug. 18, 2013 4:35p

P/E Ratio

0.21

Dividend Yield

N/A

Market Cap

£3.61 billion

Rev. per Employee

£684,453

/quotes/zigman/468607

Add to portfolio UK:FXPO

Ferrexpo PLC

UK : U.K.: London

188.60 p

+5.80 +3.17%

Volume: 1.11M

Aug. 18, 2013 4:35p

P/E Ratio

N/A

Dividend Yield

2.31%

Market Cap

£1.11 billion

Rev. per Employee

£94,023

/quotes/zigman/485291

Add to portfolio UK:AMI

African Minerals Ltd.

UK : U.K.: London

202.00 p

-6.00 -2.88%

Volume: 5.23M

Aug. 18, 2013 4:35p

P/E Ratio

0.30

Dividend Yield

N/A

Market Cap

£669.56 million

Rev. per Employee

N/A

/quotes/zigman/464452

Add to portfolio UK:LOND

London Mining PLC

UK : U.K.: London

111.50 p

+0.50 +0.45%

Volume: 966,906

Aug. 18, 2013 4:35p

P/E Ratio

N/A

Dividend Yield

N/A

Market Cap

£154.34 million

Rev. per Employee

£57,335

/quotes/zigman/13528587

Add to portfolio UK:WPP

WPP PLC

UK : U.K.: London

1,164.00 p

-4.00 -0.34%

Volume: 2.30M

Aug. 18, 2013 4:35p

P/E Ratio

0.19

Dividend Yield

3.39%

Market Cap

£15.54 billion

Rev. per Employee

£89,647

/quotes/zigman/67211/quotes/nls/armh

Add to portfolio ARMH

ARM Holdings PLC ADS

US : U.S.: Nasdaq

$ 40.97

+0.31 +0.76%

Volume: 1.33M

Aug. 16, 2013 4:00p

P/E Ratio

81.81

Dividend Yield

0.47%

Market Cap

$18.99 billion

Rev. per Employee

$426,018

/quotes/zigman/254777

Add to portfolio UK:ARM

ARM Holdings PLC

UK : U.K.: London

870.00 p

-4.50 -0.51%

Volume: 3.54M

Aug. 18, 2013 4:35p

P/E Ratio

82.08

Dividend Yield

0.48%

Market Cap

£12.16 billion

Rev. per Employee

£271,865

/quotes/zigman/427662

Add to portfolio UK:EXPN

Experian PLC

UK : U.K.: London

1,193.00 p

-10.00 -0.83%

Volume: 1.23M

Aug. 18, 2013 4:35p

P/E Ratio

0.52

Dividend Yield

2.64%

Market Cap

£11.99 billion

Rev. per Employee

£174,913

/quotes/zigman/423566

Add to portfolio UK:SL.

Standard Life PLC

UK : U.K.: London

346.20 p

-3.30 -0.94%

Volume: 8.56M

Aug. 18, 2013 4:35p

P/E Ratio

0.14

Dividend Yield

3.02%

Market Cap

£8.23 billion

Rev. per Employee

£2.36M

/quotes/zigman/153201

Add to portfolio UK:AV.

Aviva PLC

UK : U.K.: London

402.10 p

-2.20 -0.54%

Volume: 9.12M

Aug. 18, 2013 4:35p

P/E Ratio

N/A

Dividend Yield

2.79%

Market Cap

£11.85 billion

Rev. per Employee

£1.33M