LONDON MARKETS: Standard Life Gains, Kingfisher Falls On FTSE 100

By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.K. stocks hugged the flatline Friday, but Standard Life PLC shares outperformed after the investment manager released its financial results.

The FTSE 100 was up 2 points at 6,890.50, with gains for energy, mining and industrial shares barely edging out losses for consumer, utility and financial issues.

But Standard Life was higher by 2.2% after the company said assets under management last year increased 38% to about 300 billion pounds (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/standard-life-assets-under-management-rises-38-2015-02-20) ($460 billion), aided by rising financial markets and its acquisition of Ignis Asset Management. Pretax profit rose 19% to GBP604 million.

Trailing at the bottom of the benchmark was Kingfisher PLC , the home-improvement retailer whose brands include B&Q and Screwfix. Its shares fell 2.4% following a downgrade to an underweight rating, from equalweight, at Barclays. "We do not share the bulls' optimism about a QE-led French housing-market improvement," wrote analyst Christodoulos Chaviaras. "At the same time, in the U.K., competitive pressure intensifies as B&Q remains overspaced with an inflexible cost structure."

The FTSE 100 was on track for a weekly gain of 0.3%.

Meanwhile, the pound (GBPUSD) was trading at $1.5410 ahead of a U.K. retail sales report for January, due at 9:30 a.m. London time, or 4:30 a.m. Eastern Time. Sales are expected to have fallen by 0.2%. The pound late Wednesday bought $1.5416. The euro (EURGBP) was buying 73.59 pence, hovering around a seven-year low against sterling.

Investors will also keep watch on developments out of Brussels, where eurozone finance ministers were expected to discuss Greece's request of a loan extension (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/positive-climate-as-greeces-tsipras-speaks-with-german-chancellor-merkel-2015-02-19). Germany on Thursday rejected the Greek government's proposal.

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