U.K. Stocks Pare Gains; Liberty, Property Shares Decline

By Sarah Jones and Gareth Gore

Aug. 7 (Bloomberg) -- U.K. stocks pared earlier gains, paced by property companies after Hammerson Plc posted a loss in the first half and analysts recommended investors sell shares of Liberty International Plc.

The FTSE 100 Index gained 1.5, or less than 0.1 percent, to 5,487.6 in London at 1:37 p.m. The measure earlier rose as much as 1 percent. The FTSE All-Share Index lost less than 0.1 percent while Ireland's ISEQ Index fell 1.6 percent.

Hammerson slid 2.7 percent to 962.5 pence after the owner of Birmingham's Bullring and London's Brent Cross shopping centers posted a first-half loss of 421 million pounds ($820 million) as the value of its offices and malls declined.

Liberty International retreated 4.6 percent to 858.5 pence, extending yesterday's 7.2 percent decline. Deutsche Bank downgraded the U.K.'s largest shopping-centre owner to ``sell'' from ``hold,'' citing second-quarter write-offs and economic deceleration.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered its recommendation on Liberty to ``underweight' from ``neutral.''

To contact the reporters on this story: Sarah Jones in London at sjones35@bloomberg.net; Gareth Gore in Madrid at ggore1@bloomberg.net.