U.K. Stocks Advance for Second Day; Barclays, Lloyds Lead Gains

By Gareth Gore

March 27 (Bloomberg) -- U.K. stocks advanced for a second day, led by Barclays Plc after the Financial Times reported the region’s third-biggest bank won’t need to boost its capital levels.

The benchmark FTSE 100 Index gained 8.2, or 0.2 percent, to 3,933.4 as of 8:26 a.m. in London, extending the advance this week to 2.3 percent. The FTSE All-Share Index rose 0.2 percent, while Ireland’s ISEQ Index was little changed.

Barclays rallied 11 percent to 155.2 pence. The Financial Services Authority is in the final stages of testing Barclays’s loan portfolio and is set to conclude in the next few days that the London-based bank doesn’t need any new capital, the FT reported without saying where it got the information.

Lloyds Banking Group Plc, U.K.’s biggest mortgage lender, jumped 12 percent to 76.9 pence.

To contact the reporter on this story; Gareth Gore in London ggore1@bloomberg.net.