By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch

Reuters
LONDON (MarketWatch) — U.K. stocks climbed on Tuesday, catching up with a rally in other European markets on Monday, when London was closed for a bank holiday.
The FTSE 100 index /zigman2/quotes/210598409/delayed UK:UKX -0.31% rose 0.7% to end at 6,822.76, marking the highest closing level since July 7.
The gain came after the rest of European stock markets posted solid gains on Monday, spurred by European Central Bank President Mario Draghi’s unexpected hint at Jackson Hole, Wyo., on Friday that full-on quantitative easing could be on the way for the region. The Stoxx Europe 600 index /zigman2/quotes/210599654/delayed XX:SXXP -0.78% scored the biggest rally in a week after the comments and continued to push higher on Tuesday.
Among major movers in London, shares of WPP PLC /zigman2/quotes/202300097/delayed UK:WPP -0.20% picked up 1.4% after the advertising giant reported a rise in first-half profit as revenue improved.
Shares of Bunzl PLC /zigman2/quotes/201880362/delayed UK:BNZL -2.16% climbed 0.6% after the distributor of cleaning products and outsourcing company posted a rise in first-half pretax profit.
Banks were also among advancers, with shares of Barclays PLC /zigman2/quotes/208409333/delayed UK:BARC +2.95% /zigman2/quotes/206581728/composite BCS +3.69% up 1.1%, HSBC Holdings PLC /zigman2/quotes/203901799/delayed UK:HSBA +2.60% /zigman2/quotes/208272822/composite HSBC +3.20% /zigman2/quotes/202687335/delayed HK:5 -0.97% rising 0.7%, and Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC 2.1% higher.
Bucking the positive trend, Antofagasta PLC /zigman2/quotes/200173667/delayed UK:ANTO -0.03% slumped 1.2% after the miner said earnings fell in the first half of the year, due to lower copper output and weaker prices.
Petrofac Ltd. /zigman2/quotes/202340229/delayed UK:PFC +4.23% gave up 0.3%. The oil-services company reported a drop in first-half profit, but said it remains on course to achieve full year targets.


























