By Preeti Upadhyaya, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) ? U.K. stocks traded in negative territory for most of Friday?s session, but a late push higher left the benchmark index flat as pharmaceuticals and food and beverage producers pushed higher and offset pressure on mining shares.
The FTSE 100 index /quotes/zigman/3173262 UK:UKX 0.00% closed unchanged at 5,776.60 and ended the week 1.3% lower.
London?s Friday pattern tracked similar moves across Europe, as investors watched German Chancellor Angela Merkel repeat her stance on calls for extending Greece?s deadline for implementing its austerity program. See: Merkel: Germany wants Greece to remain in euro
But European stock markets pared or erased losses just ahead of the closing bell, as a letter written by Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke indicated the top U.S. central banker sees scope for further easing.
And a Reuters report, citing European Central Bank sources, said a plan to set band targets on sovereign yields is under consideration. See: ECB weighs target bands for bond yields: report
In the U.K., gross domestic product shrank less than previous estimates, contracting 0.5% in the second quarter of the year, according to revised data for the Office for National Statistics. This came in shallower than the previous estimate of 0.7% contraction. See: U.K. GDP drops a revised 0.5% in second quarter
/conga/story/misc/europe_in_crisis.html 221714Miners beat a broad retreat in London to close out the trading week. Metal prices were mostly lower.
Shares of Kazakhmys PLC /quotes/zigman/391399 UK:KAZ -2.94% skidded 2.9% as Eurasian Natural Resources Corp. PLC /quotes/zigman/492222 UK:ENRC -3.58% traded down 3.6%. Rio Tinto PLC /quotes/zigman/155899 UK:RIO -1.59% /quotes/zigman/182541/quotes/nls/rio RIO -1.06% lost 1.6% and BHP Billiton PLC /quotes/zigman/184879 UK:BLT -1.40% /quotes/zigman/270355/quotes/nls/bhp BHP -0.33% dropped 1.4%.
As investors moved into defensive stocks, drug makers along with food and beverage stocks scored Friday gains.
GlaxoSmithKline PLC /quotes/zigman/263563 UK:GSK +0.69% ? /quotes/zigman/146635/quotes/nls/gsk GSK +0.48% ?inched 0.7% higher, while Diageo PLC /quotes/zigman/208874 UK:DGE +0.91% ?added 0.9% and Unilever PLC /quotes/zigman/409909 UK:ULVR +1.16% ?took on 1.2%.
A bigger winner, Marks & Spencer Group PLC /quotes/zigman/298234 UK:MKS +4.26% ?moved 4.3% higher on the session.
However, Ashmore Group PLC /quotes/zigman/433475 UK:ASHM -4.33% ?fell 4.3% after Citigroup downgraded the investment firm to sell from neutral.
Bank shares also fell, with Royal Bank of Scotland Group PLC /quotes/zigman/10330253 UK:RBS -2.19% /quotes/zigman/530544/quotes/nls/rbs RBS -1.66% losing 2.2%. Barclays PLC /quotes/zigman/301787 UK:BARC -1.99% /quotes/zigman/152323/quotes/nls/bcs BCS -1.49% sinking 2% and HSBC Holdings PLC /quotes/zigman/13843 UK:HSBA -0.38% easing 0.4%.
/quotes/zigman/3173262
UK : FTSE Indices
Volume: 0.00
Aug. 24, 2012 4:35p
/quotes/zigman/391399 UK : U.K.: London
Volume: 2.55M
Aug. 24, 2012 4:35p
Rev. per Employee?37,513
/quotes/zigman/492222 UK : U.K.: London
Volume: 3.77M
Aug. 24, 2012 4:35p
Rev. per Employee?56,579
/quotes/zigman/155899 UK : U.K.: London
Volume: 6.93M
Aug. 24, 2012 4:35p
Market Cap?41.72 billion
Rev. per Employee?527,959
/quotes/zigman/182541/quotes/nls/rio US : U.S.: NYSE
Volume: 1.55M
Aug. 24, 2012 1:19p
Rev. per Employee$836,487
/quotes/zigman/184879 UK : U.K.: London
Volume: 6.40M
Aug. 24, 2012 4:35p
Market Cap?41.41 billion
/quotes/zigman/270355/quotes/nls/bhp US : U.S.: NYSE
Volume: 1.07M
Aug. 24, 2012 1:18p
Market Cap$112.95 billion
/quotes/zigman/263563 UK : U.K.: London
Volume: 6.61M
Aug. 24, 2012 4:35p
Market Cap?72.28 billion
Rev. per Employee?279,128
/quotes/zigman/146635/quotes/nls/gsk US : U.S.: NYSE
Volume: 1.43M
Aug. 24, 2012 1:19p
Market Cap$114.84 billion
Rev. per Employee$452,732
/quotes/zigman/208874 UK : U.K.: London
Volume: 3.40M
Aug. 24, 2012 4:35p
Market Cap?42.55 billion
Rev. per Employee?431,848
/quotes/zigman/409909 UK : U.K.: London
Volume: 1.41M
Aug. 24, 2012 4:35p
Market Cap?28.84 billion
Rev. per Employee?245,048
/quotes/zigman/298234 UK : U.K.: London
Volume: 13.57M
Aug. 24, 2012 4:35p
Rev. per Employee?122,332
/quotes/zigman/433475 UK : U.K.: London
Volume: 1.77M
Aug. 24, 2012 4:35p
/quotes/zigman/10330253 UK : U.K.: London
Volume: 8.90M
Aug. 24, 2012 4:35p
Market Cap?25.34 billion
Rev. per Employee?254,327
/quotes/zigman/530544/quotes/nls/rbs US : U.S.: NYSE
Volume: 206,252
Aug. 24, 2012 1:17p
Rev. per Employee$423,098
/quotes/zigman/301787 UK : U.K.: London
Volume: 51.78M
Aug. 24, 2012 4:35p
Market Cap?23.37 billion
Rev. per Employee?285,159
/quotes/zigman/152323/quotes/nls/bcs US : U.S.: NYSE
Volume: 2.73M
Aug. 24, 2012 1:19p
Rev. per Employee$487,429
/quotes/zigman/13843 UK : U.K.: London
Volume: 13.26M
Aug. 24, 2012 4:35p
Market Cap?102.36 billion
Rev. per Employee?231,061
Preeti Upadhyaya is a MarketWatch reporter, based in London.
Words used in this article:Source: http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story.asp?guid=%7B39B6B918-EDC2-11E1-B810-002128049AD6%7D&siteid=rss
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