LONDON MARKETS: FTSE 100 Ends Slightly Lower After Hitting 2-week High; Randgold Shines

By Carla Mozee and Victor Reklaitis, MarketWatch

Miners on the rise

Blue-chip stocks in London closed modestly lower Monday, after ending last week at a two-week high, but Randgold Resources Ltd. pushed higher following the gold miner's financial update.

The FTSE 100 dipped 0.2% to finish at 7,172.15, retreating after the index on Friday scored (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/ftse-100-moves-higher-as-bank-shares-rise-on-dodd-frank-hopes-2017-02-03) its highest close since Jan. 20. Friday's move helped the benchmark notch a weekly gain of 0.1%.

Monday's 4.2% rise in Randgold Resources shares (RRS.LN) put the gold producer at the top of the London benchmark. The company posted a 76% leap in fourth-quarter net profit (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/randgold-quarterly-profit-jumps-76-ups-dividend-2017-02-06) to $78.5 million, and raised its final dividend by 52% to $1.

Shares of other miners moved higher, with precious metals producer Fresnillo PLC (FRES.LN) up 1.3%. Glencore PLC (GLEN.LN) finished up 0.4%, and Antofagasta PLC (ANTO.LN) tacked on 0.6%.

A rally in gold (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/gold-prices-add-to-last-weeks-big-advance-2017-02-06) and silver futures was helping the sector, with both metals up roughly 1%.

Also closing higher was National Grid PLC (NG.LN) , whose shares rose by 0.6%. The electricity-transmission company said it's planning to buy back up to 3.5 million shares (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/national-grid-to-buy-back-up-to-35-mln-in-shares-2017-02-06).

On the downside, shares of department store operator Marks & Spencer Group PLC (MKS.LN) gave up 1.5%, and house builder Taylor Wimpey PLC (TW.LN) finished down 1.6%.

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 06, 2017 11:58 ET (16:58 GMT)

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