U.K. Stocks Swing Between Gains and Losses; Hammerson Advances

By Roger Neill

Jan. 30 (Bloomberg) -- U.K. stocks swung between gains and losses as an advance in property shares overshadowed a sell off in energy companies.

Hammerson Plc and Land Securities Group gained at least 3 percent after Morgan Stanley recommended investors buy the shares as the brokerage switched its preference to British from continental European companies.

Xstrata lost 3.3 percent after the Financial Times reported yesterday’s two-for-one rights offer had angered some investors in Europe’s largest zinc producer.

The benchmark FTSE 100 index gained 23.28 or 0.6 percent, to 4,213.39 at 8:47 a.m. in London.