July 17 (Bloomberg) -- U.K. stocks gained for a fifth day, extending the FTSE 100 Index’s steepest weekly advance since January, as British Airways Plc announced plans to raise cash and higher metal prices sparked a rally in mining shares.

British Airways, Europe’s-third largest airline, advanced 3 percent after the carrier announced plans to raise about $1 billion in new funding. Xstrata Plc led mining shares higher, climbing more than 4.3 percent. BT Group Plc and BG Group Plc gained more than 1.5 percent on analyst recommendations.

The FTSE 100 added 26.91, or 0.6 percent, to 4,388.75, the highest level since June 12. The FTSE All-Share Index increased 0.6 percent today and Ireland’s ISEQ Index climbed 0.7 percent.

“The FTSE 100 is establishing its range in the 4,000 to 4,500 range,” said David Cooke, a London-based investment strategist at Mint Equities in London. “Investors have been waiting direction either from economic data or corporate earnings. The market is in an uptrend and though there is enough uncertainty to make it volatile, the financial crisis is over.”

The FTSE 100 rallied 6.3 percent this week, the biggest advance since January, after U.S. companies from Goldman Sachs Group Inc. to Johnson & Johnson reported earnings that beat analysts’ estimates. The measure is down 2.6 percent from June 1 after a three-month surge pushed valuations to the highest in five years.

British Airways Gains

British Airways, which today reported a first-quarter operating loss of about 100 million pounds ($163 million), rallied 3 percent to 136.1 pence after announcing plans to raise new funding as the recession hurts revenue and drains cash reserves.

The carrier today completed a 350 million-pound offering of convertible bonds. Pension-plan trustees also agreed to release some bank guarantees to provide as much as $540 million in credit.

Xstrata, the world’s fourth-largest copper producer, climbed 4.3 percent to 691.9 pence. Vedanta Resources Plc, India’s largest copper producer, increased 4.2 percent to 1,502 pence. Kazakhmys Plc, Kazakhstan’s biggest copper mining company, gained 1.6 percent to 685.5 pence.

Copper futures climbed in New York, erasing an earlier decline, as U.S. construction of single-family homes jumped by the most since 2004. On the London Metal Exchange, copper for delivery in three months advanced as much as 1.7 percent to $5,351 a metric ton.

BT Climbs

BT Group advanced 3.2 percent to 110.2 pence after the U.K.’s largest phone company was upgraded to “outperform” from “market perform” at Sanford C. Bernstein & Co.

“With expectations fallen to unrealistic lows, we believe that it is now possible to put together a plausible long term investment case for this company,” analysts wrote in a report.

BG Group increased 1.7 percent to 1,045 pence. The U.K.’s third-largest natural-gas producer was raised to “buy” from “neutral” at Goldman Sachs Group Inc., which cited “an outstanding pipeline of new projects.”

The following stocks also gained or fell in the U.K. market. Stock symbols are in parentheses.

Bunzl Plc (BNZL LN) lost 13.5 pence, or 2.5 percent, to 525 after Bank of America Corp. downgraded the U.K.’s biggest supplier of vending machines to “neutral” from “buy.”

Cable & Wireless Plc (CW/ LN) rallied 3.1 pence, or 2.4 percent, to 133.4. The U.K.’s second-biggest phone company said earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization at its worldwide business are predicted to grow by over 30 percent this year. The company also said it will cut more costs to safeguard profitability.

DCC Plc (DCC ID) added 24.1 cents, or 1.7 percent, to 14.73 euros in Dublin trading. The Irish distributor of goods from computer games to fuels said operating profit for its fiscal first quarter was “ahead of budget.”

Severn Trent Plc (SVT LN) lost 14 pence, or 1.3 percent, to 1,072. Morgan Stanley downgraded the U.K.’s second-biggest water company to “underweight” from “equal-weight,” citing “regulatory risk.”

To contact the reporters on this story: Sarah Jones in London at sjones35@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: July 17, 2009 12:27 EDT