LONDON (ShareCast) - UK stocks inched higher on Friday, despite an underwhelming outcome to the Eurogroup's meeting on Greece, with Hikma and Ashteadin the lead after broker upgrades.
As of 15:00 BST, the FTSE 100 was trading 0.1% higher at 6,714.
Pharmaceuticals group Hikma was a high riser after analysts at Citigroup upgraded the stock from 'neutral' to 'buy', recommending investors to "keep the faith" despite a 25% drop in the shares since late February.
Equipment rental outfit Ashtead was also boosted by comments from Exane BNP Paribas, which lifted its rating on the shares to 'outperform'.
London Stock Exchange was on the up as it announced the appointment of Donald Brydon as its new chairman. The appointment follows the retirement of current chairman Chris Gibson‐Smith, who after 12 years said he would step down once a successor had been found.
Tesco extended Thursday's gains, which came on reports that Google was reportedly drawing up secret plans to gatecrash the auction of the supermarket's customer loyalty arm, by considering a joint takeover bid with Permira.
Mining stocks were pulling back after a strong showing on Thursday, with Glencore, Randgold and Antofagasta among the worst performers.
Risers
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 1,953.00p +3.06%
ARM Holdings (ARM) 1,114.00p +2.39%
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 1,149.00p +2.32%
London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) 2,394.00p +1.87%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,649.00p +1.66%
Barclays (BARC) 265.40p +1.47%
3i Group (III) 524.50p +1.45%
GKN (GKN) 351.70p +1.33%
St James's Place (STJ) 883.50p +1.26%
Associated British Foods (ABF) 3,040.00p +1.23%
Fallers
Royal Mail (RMG) 503.50p -1.08%
Shire Plc (SHP) 5,220.00p -1.04%
Glencore (GLEN) 273.65p -0.98%
Pearson (PSON) 1,242.00p -0.88%
Reed Elsevier (REL) 1,051.00p -0.76%
Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 4,512.00p -0.75%
Dixons Carphone (DC.) 456.10p -0.72%
Diageo (DGE) 1,884.50p -0.71%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,784.00p -0.67%
Imperial Tobacco Group (IMT) 3,213.00p -0.65%
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