May 11 (Bloomberg) -- The U.K.'s FTSE 100 Index erased a decline as Dixons Group Plc and Standard Chartered Plc rose.

The FTSE 100 lost 5.7, or 0.1 percent, to 4886.7 as of 9:54 a.m. in London, rebounding from a fall of as much as 0.5 percent. The FTSE All-Share Index lost 0.1 percent to 2431.35.

Benchmarks rallied after the People's Daily newspaper said that China will revalue its currency next week after keeping it pegged for the past decade. China will make the change after meeting U.S. officials, the paper said in its English-language online edition.

Index gains were limited by shares of BP Plc, Shell Transport & Trading Co. and GlaxoSmithKline Plc, three of the FTSE 100's six largest members, as they began trading without rights to their latest dividends.

Dixons, Britain's largest consumer-electronics retailer, added 4.75 pence, or 3.4 percent, to 146.25. Chief Executive John Clare said he doesn't expect analysts to change profit estimates, even as a slowdown in U.K. consumer spending and falling prices to depress business at its stores.

The retailer said revenue at U.K. stores open at least a year fell 2 percent in the 24 weeks through April 30, cutting growth to 2 percent for the year from 6 percent in the first half. Analysts are forecasting pretax profit of about 340 million pounds ($641 million) for both the year ended April 30 and the year just started, he said.

Standard Chartered, a London-based bank that makes about two- thirds of its profit in Asia, increased 11 pence, or 1.1 percent, to 976.

BP, Europe's largest oil company, sank 4.5 pence, or 0.8 percent, to 542 as the shares traded without rights to a dividend payment of 4.45 pence per share. Shell, owner of 40 percent of the region's No. 2 oil producer, decreased 7 pence, or 1.5 percent, to 470.5 as buyers of the shares lost eligibility for a payment of 4.45 pence apiece.

Glaxo, Europe's biggest drugmaker, slipped 8 pence, or 0.6 percent, to 1,327. Its most recent dividend payment is 10 pence a share.

To contact the reporter on this story: Sophie Hares in London at shares@bloomberg.net.

Last Updated: May 11, 2005 04:56 EDT