By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.K. equities reversed course and rose
Tuesday, finding upside support as market heavweight Vodafone Group
PLC pared a decline, and after investor concerns about the future
of Ukraine somewhat softened.
The FTSE 100 Index picked up 0.6% to 6,606.61, aided by a 1.6%
rise in oil firm Royal Dutch Shell PLC . The benchmark on Monday
gained 0.6%, marking its first winning session in six days.
European stocks broke free of losses, and U.S. stocks opened
higher after Russian President Vladimir Putin indicated he didn't
want to split Ukraine, although he did sign a treaty to annex the
breakaway region of Crimea over the objections of Western leaders
and despite sanctions against some Russian and Ukrainian
officials.
The next major, scheduled event for Ukraine will be on May 25
"when Ukrainians go to the polls to elect their next President. If
a pro-Russian leader wins, Putin has in essence taken over the
whole country and make no mistake, he will be doing his best to get
his first choice elected," said Peter Boockvar, chief market
analyst at the Lindsey Group LLC, in a note Tuesday.
Shares of Vodafone Group PLC were off 0.1%, but had posted
heftier declines after Fitch Ratings said it may downgrade the
wireless firm's rating by one notch if it purchases Spanish cable
firm Ono SA without taking other measures to reduce debt.
Vodafone's leverage is low for a 'A-' rating, said Fitch, with
funds from operations adjusted net leverage expected to be 1.2
times at the end of March. But the planned deal with Ono, and
Vodafone's Project Spring investment program over the next few
years, "could push this metric to above 2.5x within 18 months,
which is the upper end of the leverage range for a 'A-'
rating."
Vodafone shares climbed 1.7% on Monday following news of the
planned acquisition.
Among other stocks, J Sainsbury PLC charged up 1.1%, sloughing
off a pullback, with the company able to hold on to its 17% market
share at the same time that quarterly sales declined. In the 10
weeks to March 15, Sainsbury posted a 1.5% fall in total sales, and
excluding fuel, total sales were down 1% during the period.
Sainsbury's figures follow last week's below-anticipated
projection from Wm. Morrison Supermarkets PLC that underlying
profit for the fiscal year 2014-2015 will drop between 460 million
pounds ($764 million) and GBP510 million. Morrisons shares also
turned higher Tuesday, rising 1%. At the same time, shares of Tesco
PLC edged up 0.24%.
Off the FTSE 100 Index, stock in Asos PLC fell 10% as the online
fashion company's raised capital expenditure plans will likely
pressure its yearly earnings.
Elsewhere in London, the Bank of England named three new senior
officials to join the central bank. Among them is Ben Broadbent,
who will become deputy governor of monetary policy.
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