LONDON MARKETS: FTSE 100 Faces Weekly Loss As Miners Lead A Decline

By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch

EasyJet gets an upgrade

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.K. stocks slipped Friday and moved toward a weekly loss, as energy and mining shares came under pressure.

The FTSE 100 fell 0.1% to 6,886.77, looking at a fourth consecutive decline. It was also on track for a 2% decline from last Friday, which would marks the index's third weekly loss in four weeks.

The heavily weighted natural-resources group traded in the red, alongside a fall in oil and metals prices that came as the dollar (DXY) rose against major rivals. Shares of miners Randgold Resources Ltd. and Anglo American PLC was down 2.8% and 2.5%, respectively. Oil major BP PLC lost 0.7%.

Antofagasta PLC pulled back 1.5% as the copper miner said it has suspended operations at three mines because of heavy rains in the Atacama Desert in northern Chile. "[N]ormal operations are expected to resume as soon as the situation improves," said Antofagasta in a statement.

But the best performer was EasyJet PLC , climbing 2.6% following an upgrade to outperform from sector perform at RBC Capital Markets. "To us, beyond [first-half] trading ... we think the summer intra-Europe airline outlook has become more positive," said analysts.

Shares of British Airways parent International Consolidated Airlines Group gained, up 2%.

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