The FTSE 100 declined 16 points (0.3 percent) on Friday to trim its weekly losses to 58 points (1 percent) and close at 5,714. The UK’s blue chip index is expected to shed 36 points (0.6 percent) in early trade today.
Temporary power provider Aggreko (LON:AGK), private equity group 3i (LON:III) and gold miner Randgold Resources (LON:RRS) led the blue chips with gains of just over 2 percent.
Imperial Tobacco Group (LON:IMT), insurer Old Mutual (LON:OML) and copper miner Kazakhmys (LON:KAZ) followed, tacking on nearly 2 percent.
Home improvement retailer Kingfisher (LON:KGF), satellite telecommunications firm Inmarsat (LON:ISAT) and property company focused on shopping centres Capital Shopping Centres Group (LON:CSCG) were at the bottom of the pile with losses of 1.2 percent.
Chipmaker ARM Holdings (LON:ARM) and Kazakh miner Eurasian Natural Resources (LON:ENRC) eased 1 percent.
In the US, the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) advanced 43 points (0.35 percent) to 12,004. The broader S&P 500 index rose 4 points (0.3 percent) to 1,271 and the technology heavy NASDAQ composite fell 7 points (0.3 percent) to 2,616.
AT&T (NYSE:T), Microsoft (NYSE:MSFT), JP Morgan (NYSE:JPM) and IBM (NYSE:IBM) led the DJIA components, rising 1.1 percent.
Intel Corp (NYSE:INTC) fell 1.1 percent.
In Asia, Japan’s benchmark Nikkei 225 index climbed 16 points (0.2 percent) to 9,367 and China’s Shanghai Composite Index dropped 22 points (0.8 percent) to 2,620.
Commodities
US light, sweet crude for August delivery fell to US$91.97/barrel. August Brent crude last traded at US$111.96/barrel.
Gold and silver declined to US$1,536/oz and US$35.59/oz respectively. Platinum rose to US$1,754/oz.
Copper retreated to US$4.07/lb. Nickel and zinc rose to US$9.78/lb and US$0.992/lb respectively.
