London Markets: Resource plays lift U.K. stocks; HSBC climbs but HBOS slips

Resource plays lift U.K. stocks; HSBC rises By Steve Goldstein, MarketWatch LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Resource shares held the spotlight Monday in London, as renewed tensions over Iran's nuclear program pushed oil and gold futures higher. The FTSE 100 index swung higher, rising 0.6% to 5,409.00. U.K. stocks, unlike their U.S. counterparts, dropped last week and the FTSE 100 is down more than 17% for the year. "Tin hats may well be required if we are to brave this market, but we are seeing growing signs of overreaction, and with overreaction comes value," said Gareth Evans, a strategist at UBS. A further pullback in oil prices or signs of stabilization in the U.S. housing market should trigger a rotation into value stocks, he said. With multilateral talks with Iran over the weekend yielding little apparent progress, miners and... [read full story]