UPDATE 2-FTSE 100 dips but still posts best week since April on vaccine hopes

  • Reuters
  • Stock Market News
UPDATE 2-FTSE 100 dips but still posts best week since April on vaccine hopes
Credit: © Reuters.

(For a Reuters live blog on U.S., UK and European stock markets, click LIVE/ or type LIVE/ in a news window)

* UK-EU to resume Brexit trade talks on Monday

* Galliford surges on return to profitability forecast

* Whitbread jumps on Barclays (LON: BARC )' upgrade to 'overweight'

* FTSE 100 down 0.4%, FTSE 250 falls 0.2% (Adds comment; updates to close)

By Devik Jain

Nov 13 (Reuters) - London's FTSE 100 retreated on Friday on concerns over rising COVID-19 infections and as a stronger pound pressured exporters, although the index still logged its best weekly gain since April on hopes of an effective vaccine.

The blue-chip index .FTSE closed 0.4% lower, as industrial stocks declined and currency moves weighed on big dollar-earnings stocks such as consumer staples.

British American Tobacco (JO: SNHJ ) BATS.L , Unilever Plc ULVR.L , Reckitt Benckiser RB.L and Diageo Plc DGE.L fell between 0.5%-1.6%.

The domestically-focused mid-cap FTSE 250 index .FTMC ended 0.2% lower.

"After the vaccine-infused euphoria at the start of the week a dose of reality seems to have been administered to the market," said AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould.

"Clearly the COVID-19 crisis is not at an end despite the positive news announced by Pfizer and counterparts in Russia."

However, both the indexes posted their second straight week of gains, aided by new local stimulus measures and as U.S. drugmaker Pfizer Inc (NYSE: PFE ) PFE.N said on Monday its COVID-19 vaccine was 90% effective.

Meanwhile data showed Britain's COVID-19 reproduction "R" number has fallen to 1.0-1.2 and might be below 1 in some parts of the country in sign epidemic is slowing. the Brexit front, Britain and the European Union will resume trade talks in Brussels on Monday after so far failing to close gaps over competition rules and fisheries. think that talks realistically can't stretch much further without causing some degree of logistical problems," said James Smith, developed market economist at ING.

"That said, this is politics at the end of the day and neither side will want to be the one seen to end negotiations."

In company news, construction firm Galliford Try Holdings Plc GFRD.L surged 26.1% after forecasting a return to profitability in the first half of this financial year. Inn-owner Whitbread Plc WTB.L rose 3.6% after Barclays upgraded the stock to "overweight", while Rolls-Royce RR.L jumped 4.1% after JP Morgan raised its target price on the stock.

Add Chart to Comment

Comment Guidelines

We encourage you to use comments to engage with users, share your perspective and ask questions of authors and each other. However, in order to maintain the high level of discourse we’ve all come to value and expect, please keep the following criteria in mind: 

  • Enrich the conversation
  • Stay focused and on track. Only post material that’s relevant to the topic being discussed.
  • Be respectful. Even negative opinions can be framed positively and diplomatically.
  •  Use standard writing style. Include punctuation and upper and lower cases.
  • NOTE: Spam and/or promotional messages and links within a comment will be removed
  • Avoid profanity, slander or personal attacks directed at an author or another user.
  • Don’t Monopolize the Conversation. We appreciate passion and conviction, but we also believe strongly in giving everyone a chance to air their thoughts. Therefore, in addition to civil interaction, we expect commenters to offer their opinions succinctly and thoughtfully, but not so repeatedly that others are annoyed or offended. If we receive complaints about individuals who take over a thread or forum, we reserve the right to ban them from the site, without recourse.
  • Only English comments will be allowed.

Perpetrators of spam or abuse will be deleted from the site and prohibited from future registration at Investing.com’s discretion.

Drop an image here or Supported formats: *.jpg, *.png, *.gif up to 5mb

Error: File type not supported

Drop an image here or

100
Please try another search