LONDON (ShareCast) - UK stocks advanced on Thursday despite some mixed economic data, as ongoing M&A speculation and easing concerns about Greece drove markets higher.
London's FTSE 100 was up 0.76% at 6,989.91 by noon despite weakness in the heavyweight mining sector, as bid hopes boosted stocks such as Burberry and Intercontinental Hotels Group (IHG). The index has not closed above the 7,000 mark since 24 March.

Stocks were tracking a decent performance on Wall Street on Wednesday night after minutes of the 17-18 March Federal Open Market Committee meeting showed quite a large disparity among members on when to tighten policy. Some suggested moving as soon as June, while others preferred waiting until later in the year or even 2016, though the main consensus was that the pace of rate increases would likely be gradual.

What's more, that meeting took place before the release of the disappointing March employment report last week, which missed analysts' expectations by a long way and added to speculation that policymakers would hold off from hiking rates just yet.

Asian markets were mostly higher on Thursday with Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index rising to its highest since January 2008 as investors from mainland China piled in, and Japan's Nikkei 225 hitting a fresh 15-year high.

Reports that Greece will meet Thursday's deadline to pay back a €450m loan payment to the International Monetary Fund were also helping sentiment. "The payment has been scheduled and will go out later today," a government official told Reuters.

UK trade deficit increases, German data mixed

In economic data, the UK trade deficit widened to a seven-month high of £10.34bn in February as exports dropped to their lowest since September 2010. This was up from £9.17bn in January and higher than the consensus forecast of £9bn.

Meanwhile, German factory orders unexpectedly fell 0.9% in February, versus economists' expectations for a 1.5% gain. However, other figures showed German industrial production rose in February, while German trade data was better than forecast.

In other news, the Bank of England announced at midday that it had maintained the Bank Rate at 0.5% and its asset purchase programme at £375bn, as expected by the market.

Burberry and IHG gain, miners fall

British fashion house Burberry was a high riser amid speculation it could attract the attention of a US rival or cash-rich private equity groups. The stock was given an extra boost by JPMorgan Cazenove which hiked its target price, and Goldman Sachs which placed the stock on its "conviction buy" list.

The stock was also benefitting from positive readacross from sector peer Mulberry which said it expected full-year profits to be slightly ahead of forecasts following a series of warnings.

Hotels group IHG was also in demand after Jefferies upgraded the stock to 'hold' and lifted its target price from 2,000p to 2,400p. The broker sees the company as a potential takeover candidate, saying that M&A is set to return in the hotel industry as growth slows.

Mining stocks were mostly lower, including BHP Billiton and Anglo American after Credit Suisse and Investec downgraded their ratings on both companies. Both banks expressed concerns about falls in iron ore and coal prices due to structural issues, namely a weaker Chinese economy, together with low cost supply.

Sausage-maker Cranswick impressed with a strong finish to its fiscal year, with total sales in the fourth quarter up 4% on the same period last year after its recent acquisition of Benson Park. Full-year underlying sales are expected to be flat, as City analysts expected.

A number of AIM oil explorers saw shares rocket on Thursday morning after the Horse Hill project in the South of England made a "significant" discovery, said to be the largest onshore find in the country for 30 years. Partners of the project include UK Oil & Gas Investments, Doriemus, Alba Mineral Resources, Stellar Resources, Solo Oil and Evocutis.

Market Movers
techMARK 3,225.20 +0.69%
FTSE 100 6,989.91 +0.76%
FTSE 250 17,658.91 +0.55%

FTSE 100 - Risers
Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,807.00p +3.67%
Pearson (PSON) 1,475.00p +3.07%
Aberdeen Asset Management (ADN) 478.50p +2.84%
Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 1,366.00p +2.78%
Sports Direct International (SPD) 642.50p +2.39%
Persimmon (PSN) 1,717.00p +2.20%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 599.00p +2.04%
Mondi (MNDI) 1,387.00p +1.99%
easyJet (EZJ) 1,894.00p +1.94%
CRH (CRH) 1,785.00p +1.88%

FTSE 100 - Fallers
Standard Life (SL.) 469.30p -2.72%
Aggreko (AGK) 1,566.00p -1.82%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,738.00p -1.53%
Intertek Group (ITRK) 2,573.00p -1.04%
Anglo American (AAL) 1,017.50p -0.88%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,459.50p -0.65%
Shire Plc (SHP) 5,450.00p -0.64%
Next (NXT) 7,035.00p -0.64%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 2,835.50p -0.63%
Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 79.44p -0.30%

FTSE 250 - Risers
Premier Oil (PMO) 156.10p +4.48%
Ashmore Group (ASHM) 311.60p +3.83%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 324.60p +3.51%
Vedanta Resources (VED) 535.50p +3.48%
Keller Group (KLR) 1,010.00p +3.38%
Bovis Homes Group (BVS) 984.00p +3.09%
Euromoney Institutional Investor (ERM) 1,164.00p +2.65%
Henderson Group (HGG) 298.80p +2.65%
Fidelity China Special Situations (FCSS) 162.40p +2.40%
Barr (A.G.) (BAG) 648.50p +2.37%

FTSE 250 - Fallers
Serco Group (SRP) 142.60p -3.58%
RPS Group (RPS) 237.50p -3.02%
esure Group (ESUR) 214.60p -2.45%
Imagination Technologies Group (IMG) 199.60p -2.01%
Catlin Group Ltd. (CGL) 707.00p -1.87%
Rotork (ROR) 2,572.00p -1.83%
NMC Health (NMC) 683.00p -1.80%
International Personal Finance (IPF) 482.00p -1.75%
Ultra Electronics Holdings (ULE) 1,695.00p -1.63%
Fisher (James) & Sons (FSJ) 1,296.00p -1.59%

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