LONDON MARKETS: Sports Direct Sets Pace For Decliners On FTSE 100

By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.K. stocks fell Friday, with pressure on shares of Sports Direct International and further weakness from supermarket chain Tesco PLC, whose shares are facing their worst weekly performance more than two years.

The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index fell 0.3% to 6,621.83.

Sports Direct dropped 2.2%, extending Thursday's loss of 3.4%. The retailer, under owner Mike Ashley's direction, made a 43 billion pound ($70.1 billion) bet via a put-option that shares of embattled Tesco will rise, it said.

Shares of Tesco were down 0.6% on Friday. The supermarket chain is on track for a weekly slide of 17% after Monday's revelation that its profit forecast was overestimated by GBP250 million stemming from an accounting error. A loss of 17% would be the biggest weekly fall since January 2012.

Advancers in London trade included miners Fresnillo PLC and Randgold Resources PLC , up 2.5% and 1.7%, respectively.

Off the FTSE 100, De La Rue PLC shares stumbled 25% after the bank-note printer -- whose customers include the Bank of England -- issued a profit warning for the year, as trading conditions "have deteriorated".

For the week, the FTSE 100 is line for a 3% drop. Stocks on Thursday were in part hurt after BOE Governor Mark Carney said the time for an interest-rate hike is moving closer. Such a move could come as early as next year, economists have said.

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