London mixed; FTSE 250 lower on miners

The equities markets in London were mixed on Tuesday. The FTSE 100 was up for the first time in five days, but the gain was only a slight 0.08 percent to 5,846.2 Meanwhile, the FTSE 250 dropped 0.16 percent to 9,542.2 as mid-cap miners saw losses.

There were gains on the day in individual stocks. BSkyB added 3.2 percent to 545½p after hedge fund traders closed out their short positions after it became clear that Sky would hold on to most of its rights to broadcast Premier League events. In consequence, Morgan Stanley and Cazenove both abandoned their “underweight” recommendations on the satellite broadcaster’s shares.

Health and beauty retailer Boots also saw gains on the day ahead of its earnings report, due Thursday, which rumor says will show a record pre-tax profit. In addition, it is being said that Boots has downplayed possible cost savings stemming from its merger with Alliance UniChem. The combination of talk spurred Deutsche Bank to up its rating of Boots to “buy” and to set its target share price at 850p. Boots added 1.6 percent on the day to 734½p. UniChem was also up, gaining 2.7 percent to 933p.

Elsewhere in the retail sector, Marks & Spencer was flat at 596p. Baugur, which sold out Marks & Spencer last week, is now said to be looking at building a stake in supermarket chain William Morrison, which added 1.7 percent to 194½p on the rumors.