By Kit Rees
LONDON (Reuters) - Gains among financials and miners helped lift FTSE 100 on Monday from a three-month low, while changes to broker recommendations also prompted moves in individual stocks.
Britain's blue chip FTSE 100 (FTSE) index was up 0.6 percent at 7,353.89 points at its close, recovering slightly after posting its worst week since April on Friday.
Financials contributed more than 6 points to the index, while materials added around 9 points.
Risky assets globally were hit last week amid rising tensions between the U.S. and North Korea, and the more high-beta stocks such as banks and miners bore the brunt of the sell-off.
Britain's banking index (FTNMX8350) rose 0.8 percent off a one-month low, while miners (FTNMX1770) gained 1.7 percent. Lender Standard Chartered (L:STAN) and miners Glencore (L:GLEN) and BHP Billiton (L:BLT) were among the top FTSE gainers.
"The rhetoric around North Korea ... has calmed down," said Ken Odeluga, market analyst at City Index, despite continued uncertainties.
A weaker energy sector took the shine off the FTSE's rise, however, with shares in heavyweight Royal Dutch Shell (L:RDSa) ending the session flat and BP (L:BP) down 0.4 percent as the price of oil retreated. [O/R]
Elsewhere, broker action spurred some sizeable moves, with tour operator TUI (L:TUIT) the biggest gainer, up 4.8 percent at an all-time high on the back of an upgrade from Credit Suisse (SIX:CSGN) to "neutral" from "underperform", citing a decrease in near-term risks for the stock as well as benefits from its cruise and hotel segments.
Downgrades from Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) weighed on both Experian (L:EXPN) and G4S (L:GFS), which fell 1.5 percent and 1.1 percent respectively.
Morgan Stanley cut Experian to "equal-weight", with analysts flagging rising risk in credit services, and they also moved G4S to "equal-weight", saying that the next 12 months will be challenging for the stock due to difficult market conditions.
"Experian is a high quality business with multiple growth opportunities. However, rapid expansion in credit since 2013 and increasing regulatory attention presents a headwind to volume growth," analysts at Morgan Stanley said in a note.
Outside of the blue chips, mid caps (FTMC) rose 0.8 percent, boosted by gains among financials and industrials.