LONDON: Britain’s FTSE 100 edged lower on Friday as a drop in oil stocks outweighed gains in industrials, while the index logged weekly gains on optimism about interest rates peaking in the US The blue-chip FTSE 100 slipped by 0.1%, dragged by oil stocks falling 1.7%, tracking lower crude prices.
Capping losses, Spirax-Sarco Engineering added 3.1% after UBS upgraded the valve maker’s rating to “buy” from “neutral”.
Despite the session’ losses, the FTSE 100 logged its best weekly performance in more than three months, while the midcap index posted its best week in eight months.
Global markets have rallied this week as evidence of slowing inflation in the United States bolstered hopes that the Federal Reserve is nearing the end of its rate-hike cycle.
“Investors are trying to see through the malaise and looking six to nine months into the future when they hope things will be better,” said Michael Field, senior equity analyst at Morningstar.
Markets await the UK June consumer prices data due next week, to look for clues on where the Bank of England (BoE) stands on monetary policy tightening.
“General trend amongst the developed economies now is that CPI is falling relatively quickly and the UK has been stickier,” Field added, with the implication the UK will need longer to bring inflation down.
Meanwhile, the head of Britain’s Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) said inflationary pressures are becoming more embedded in the economy.
The domestically-focussed FTSE 250 midcap index fell 0.4%, led by a 9.7% drop in Liontrust Asset Management as the company reported a fall in its assets under management and advice(AUMA).
Dr Martens added 5.1% after the bootmaker announced the start of a share buyback program of up to 50 million pounds ($65.52 million).
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