London - Britain's blue-chip share index rose on Tuesday to trade near the previous session's record highs, with Shire and Associated British Foods gaining on the back of positive comments from brokers.
However, gains were limited by a fall in shares of Glencore and Barclays after earnings releases.
Shire rose 1.7 percent to 5,250 pence, with traders citing a Goldman Sachs note on the sector helping the stock. Goldman raised its 12-month price target for the drugmaker to 6,400 pence from 5,600 pence.
“We increase our 2015-18 EPS (earnings per share) estimates by up to 7.5 percent to account for the recent acquisition of NPS Pharma,” Goldman Sachs analysts said in a note. “Shire remains one of our top EU pharma picks.”
The blue-chip FTSE 100 index was up 0.3 percent at 6,958.33 points by 09h14 GMT, trading just below a new record high of 6,974.26 points set in the previous session.
“Whilst we might see the FTSE 100 briefly touch 7,000, I do not think the market will hold current levels since both the US and UK markets are overbought and due for a correction,” John Smith, senior fund manager at Brown Shipley, said.
“With the UK general election ahead, the UK market will soon start to get nervous about the election result.”
Associated British Foods rose 1.9 percent to 3,145 pence after Investec started coverage of the stock with a “buy” rating and a price target of 3,650 pence.
Tullow Oil bounced back after falling 7.7 percent in the previous session on concerns that a boundary dispute between Ivory Coast and Ghana could delay a project off the coast of West Africa. Its shares were up 3.6 percent on Tuesday, helped by a rebound in crude oil prices.
However, gains were capped by some weaker firms.
Barclays fell 2.9 percent after announcing results and saying it had set aside an extra 750 million pounds ($1.15 billion) for potential fines arising from allegations of manipulation in the foreign exchange market. Its annual profits rose 12 percent, thanks to a sharp cut in costs.
“The additional foreign exchange provision is unwelcome, whilst other regulatory discussions which may lead to further fines lurk in the background,” Richard Hunter, head of equities at Hargreaves Lansdown Stockbrokers, said.
Glencore fell 2 percent after the miner and commodity trader took an impairment charge of $1.1 billion on lower commodity prices. It posted a 2 percent fall in 2014 core profit.
Reuters