* FTSE 100 up 0.4 percent
* Miners gain after Alcoa says sees brighter 2013
* Lloyds Banking shines after UBS upgrade
* J Sainsbury drops after trading update
LONDON, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Britain's top shares rose on
Wednesday, boosted by banking stocks and miners as a reassuring
start to the U.S. earnings season boosted investors' appetite
for riskier assets.
The FTSE 100 was up 24.33 points, or 0.4 percent, at
6,077.96 by 0907 GMT, resuming a rally that took it to its
highest closing level since early February 2011 on Friday,
having slipped on Monday and Tuesday of this week.
Miners gained as investors welcomed news that
Alcoa, the largest aluminium producer in the United
States, posted in-line fourth-quarter earnings after the Wall
Street close on Tuesday and offered a positive outlook for 2013.
But it kept a cautious tone as worries linger over a looming
U.S. budget confrontation.
"The comments from Alcoa... put people more into a risk-on
perspective. But if you wanted to buy (the market) on the Alcoa
results it's probably tempting fate somewhat because it's (just)
one set of results," Andy Ash, head of sales at Monument
Securities, said.
"I think a lot of what we are seeing is new year flows, so
retail (investors) putting money into equity funds ...- and you
don't want to fight against that. But that tends to run out in
the third week of January which coincides with (when the
reporting season gets under way in earnest)."
Banks led blue chips higher, with Lloyds
Banking Group the best performer, up 3.3 percent as
traders cited the impact of a UBS upgrade to "buy" from
"neutral" with an increased target price of 60 pence.
"Lloyds' investment strategy is simplest of the UK domestic
banks. The story is defined with the group focused on
execution," UBS said in a note.
"We think Lloyds will deliver rising margins, falling costs
and falling provisions, which will provide a very strong upswing
to profitability and EPS momentum over the next few years."
J Sainsbury suffered early falls, off 2.5 percent
and relinquishing the previous session's advance as it issued a
trading update which prompted Seymour Pierce to cut its rating
on the stock to "reduce".
Britain's No. 3 supermarket met forecasts for underlying
sales in the Christmas quarter, though growth did slow from its
first half in a highly competitive festive market.
"We suspect Sainsbury will struggle to outperform in 2013 as
Tesco continues its fight back and there is some margin
vulnerability as momentum slows," Seymour Pierce said in a note.
Many of Britain's grocers are finding the going tough as
consumers fret over job security and a squeeze on real incomes,
and with the retail market showing minimal growth, store groups
are battling to take market share off each other.
For a graphic showing UK retailers' share price performances
click on: http://link.reuters.com/mat94t
Tesco, which reports on Thursday, shed 0.8 percent.
* Miners gain after Alcoa says sees brighter 2013
* Lloyds Banking shines after UBS upgrade
* J Sainsbury drops after trading update
LONDON, Jan 9 (Reuters) - Britain's top shares rose on
Wednesday, boosted by banking stocks and miners as a reassuring
start to the U.S. earnings season boosted investors' appetite
for riskier assets.
The FTSE 100 was up 24.33 points, or 0.4 percent, at
6,077.96 by 0907 GMT, resuming a rally that took it to its
highest closing level since early February 2011 on Friday,
having slipped on Monday and Tuesday of this week.
Miners gained as investors welcomed news that
Alcoa, the largest aluminium producer in the United
States, posted in-line fourth-quarter earnings after the Wall
Street close on Tuesday and offered a positive outlook for 2013.
But it kept a cautious tone as worries linger over a looming
U.S. budget confrontation.
"The comments from Alcoa... put people more into a risk-on
perspective. But if you wanted to buy (the market) on the Alcoa
results it's probably tempting fate somewhat because it's (just)
one set of results," Andy Ash, head of sales at Monument
Securities, said.
"I think a lot of what we are seeing is new year flows, so
retail (investors) putting money into equity funds ...- and you
don't want to fight against that. But that tends to run out in
the third week of January which coincides with (when the
reporting season gets under way in earnest)."
Banks led blue chips higher, with Lloyds
Banking Group the best performer, up 3.3 percent as
traders cited the impact of a UBS upgrade to "buy" from
"neutral" with an increased target price of 60 pence.
"Lloyds' investment strategy is simplest of the UK domestic
banks. The story is defined with the group focused on
execution," UBS said in a note.
"We think Lloyds will deliver rising margins, falling costs
and falling provisions, which will provide a very strong upswing
to profitability and EPS momentum over the next few years."
J Sainsbury suffered early falls, off 2.5 percent
and relinquishing the previous session's advance as it issued a
trading update which prompted Seymour Pierce to cut its rating
on the stock to "reduce".
Britain's No. 3 supermarket met forecasts for underlying
sales in the Christmas quarter, though growth did slow from its
first half in a highly competitive festive market.
"We suspect Sainsbury will struggle to outperform in 2013 as
Tesco continues its fight back and there is some margin
vulnerability as momentum slows," Seymour Pierce said in a note.
Many of Britain's grocers are finding the going tough as
consumers fret over job security and a squeeze on real incomes,
and with the retail market showing minimal growth, store groups
are battling to take market share off each other.
For a graphic showing UK retailers' share price performances
click on: http://link.reuters.com/mat94t
Tesco, which reports on Thursday, shed 0.8 percent.
UK stocks stage recovery on positive U.S. earnings
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UK stocks stage recovery on positive U.S. earnings
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UK stocks stage recovery on positive U.S. earnings
