Sept. 10 (Bloomberg) -- U.K. stocks rose for the first day in three, paced by shares of supermarket operator J Sainsbury Plc and software maker Sage Group Plc.

The benchmark FTSE 100 Index gained 19.3, or 0.4 percent, to 4557.30 as of 9:14 a.m. in London. The FTSE All-Share Index added 8.38, or 0.4 percent, to 2263.86, as about two stocks rose for each one that declined.

The FTSE 100 is set to add 0.2 percent this week, a fourth week of gains. That would be the longest such advance since the four weeks through April 23.

Sainsbury, the U.K.'s third-largest supermarket chain, advanced 10.75 pence, or 3.9 percent, to 287.75 pence.

Sage, Britain's biggest maker of accounting software, rose 3.5 pence, or 2.1 percent, to 168 pence.

The following stocks are making gains or losses today. Stock symbols are in parentheses after company names.

BP Plc (BP/ LN), Europe's biggest oil company, added 4 pence, or 0.8 percent, to 510 pence. Shell Transport & Trading Co. (SHEL LN), owner of 40 percent of Royal Dutch/Shell Group, the region's second-largest oil company, rose 3.25 pence, or 0.8 percent, to 419.25 pence.

Crude-oil futures in New York advanced 4.3 percent yesterday to $44.61 a barrel, the highest since Aug. 24. They traded at $44.60 today.

Brandon Hire Plc (BDH LN), a company that rents power-drills and chainsaws, gained 5 pence, or 3.5 percent, to 146.5 pence after saying first-half net income almost doubled to 1.42 million pounds, from 726,000 pounds in the year-earlier period, as the market for large-scale building projects ``picked up strongly.''

Bookham Technology Plc (BHM LN), a maker of optical components that gets most of its revenue in dollars, asked for its shares to be suspended pending an announcement by the company, according to a Regulatory News Service statement. The stock fell 1.14 pence, or 3.2 percent, to 34.09 pence yesterday after Bookham said late Wednesday it plans to cancel its listing on the London Stock Exchange as it moves its headquarters to the U.S.

Charter Plc (CHTR LN), a maker of welding equipment, rose 6.5 pence, or 3.8 percent, to 180 pence. The company said it returned to first-half profit as it cut costs and demand for its welding products picked up in the U.S.

Net income was 4.8 million pounds, compared with a loss of 7.8 million pounds in the year-earlier period, Charter said.

Punch Taverns Plc (PUB LN), the U.K.'s second-largest pub landlord, advanced 20.5 pence, or 4.1 percent, to 522.5 pence. The company said it bought InnSpired Group Ltd., the operator of 1,064 British pubs, for about 335 million pounds including debt to boost its presence in Southern England.

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

Last Updated: September 10, 2004 04:31 EDT