LONDON MARKETS: London's FTSE 100 Ends Slightly Lower As British Pound Firms Up

By Emily Horton

Benchmark falls 2.3% for the week

The FTSE 100 failed to hang on to gains Friday as the British pound rose, ending lower and leaving the U.K. benchmark with its biggest weekly decline since early December.

What are markets doing?

The FTSE 100 fell 0.1% to close at 6,809.22, after finishing down 0.35% on Thursday. That left the index with a 2.3% weekly decline, its biggest such fall since the week ending Dec. 7. London's softer session was in contrast to stronger gains across Europe.

What's driving the market?

The British pound firmed up after the Sun reported (https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/brexit/8274637/dup-agree-to-support-pm-brexit-plan/) that the DUP have privately decided to back May's Plan B Brexit deal, after she strengthens the proposal next week. Even as it pared earlier, stronger gains, sterling rose to $1.3168 from $1.3065 late in New York on Thursday. A stronger pound tends to weigh on the FTSE 100, which houses many exporters who get a chunk of their revenue from foreign companies.

The new chief executive of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS)), David Solomon, also had a message for U.K. parliament--a messy Brexit will impact the bank's investment decisions in the U.K (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/goldman-boss-says-difficult-brexit-will-impact-uk-jobs-and-investment-2019-01-25).

What stock are active?

Heavyweight mining stocks were among the FTSE 100 top gainers on Friday, with Antofagasta PLC (ANTO.LN) up 3.7%, Glencore PLC (GLEN.LN) up 3.2%, Fresnillo (FRES.LN) rising 6.1% and BHP Group (BHP.LN) rallying 2.6%.

Vodafone Group PLC (VOD.LN) lost nearly 5%, after reporting a fall in revenue (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/vodafone-revenue-falls-backs-full-year-guidance-2019-01-25).

Meanwhile, Rentokil Initial PLC (RTO.LN) lost 0.1%, after the U.K. Competition and Markets Authority ordered the company to sell several large supply contracts (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/uk-cma-orders-rentokil-to-sell-supply-contracts-2019-01-25).

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

January 25, 2019 12:44 ET (17:44 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2019 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.