Dec. 2 (Bloomberg) -- U.K. stocks pared gains as Reed Elsevier Group Plc and oil companies BP Plc and Shell Transport & Trading Co. declined.

The FTSE 100 added 4.7, or 0.1 percent, to 4740.40 as of 8:58 a.m. in London, after gaining as much as 0.4 percent. The FTSE All-Share Index advanced 2.69, or 0.1 percent, to 2362.16.

Reed Elsevier, owner of the LexisNexis databases and Variety magazine, fell 13.5 pence, or 2.8 percent, to 474 pence. The company said the dollar's decline against the pound and the euro will wipe out almost all the company's earnings growth in 2004.

BP, Europe's biggest oil company, slid 10 pence, or 1.9 percent, to 522 pence, a fifth day of declines. Shell Transport, which has a 40 percent stake in Royal Dutch/Shell Group, Europe's second-largest oil company, fell 4.25 pence, or 1 percent, to 436.75 pence.

Crude oil in New York was little changed after its biggest drop in three years yesterday, when the contract fell 7.4 percent to $45.49 a barrel.

To contact the reporter on this story: Brian McGee in London at bmcgee3@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: December 2, 2004 04:10 EST