By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch

U.K. retail sales pull back in January

LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.K. stocks finished higher Friday, with shares of investment manager Standard Life PLC among those that helped keep the benchmark FTSE 100 near multiyear highs.

The FTSE 100 closed up 0.4% to 6,915.20, ending near its intraday highs as energy, mining, and telecom issues advanced. Miner Glencore PLC emerged as the best performer, with shares rising 3%. Stocks on the broader European market also finished higher ahead of any announcement from eurozone finance ministers who met Friday 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).

"Will the FTSE finally break through the 6,930 record? A positive resolution in talks on Greece could push it over the try line," said Laith Khalaf, senior analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, in a note late Friday.

The FTSE 100 is closing in on its all-time high of 6,930.20 that it reached on Dec. 30, 1999, according to FactSet data. The index ended the week up by 0.6%, marking its third straight weekly rise.

On Friday, Standard Life climbed 2.7% 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.

But on the downside was Kingfisher PLC , the home-improvement retailer whose brands include B&Q and Screwfix. Its shares fell 1.9%, spending much of the session as the FTSE's lead decliner 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."

Taylor Wimpey PLC switched higher by 0.6% as it and competitor Bovis Homes Group PLC were named as top picks in the U.K. house building space by J.P. Morgan Cazenove, which sees 11% upside in the sector. Home builder Persimmon PLC shares fell 0.9% following the broker's downgrade to neutral from overweight.

But Bovis shares picked up 3.4% on the FTSE 250 index , as J.P. Morgan upgraded them to overweight from neutral.

Sterling: The British currency (GBPUSD) bought $1.5381, recovering from losses earlier in the session against the dollar, triggered after U.K. sales fell 0.3% in January, more than the 0.2% decline forecast in a FactSet poll of analysts. The pound late Thursday bought $1.5416.

The Office for National Statistics noted "a significant increase in the quantity bought in petrol stations and department stores, but this did not negate the downwards pressure from predominantly food stores, textile, clothing and footwear and other stores."

But the pound's earlier decline was softened following a report showing government borrowing fell in January, noted Fawad Razaqzada, technical analyst at Forex.com, on Friday. See: U.K. posts biggest budget surplus since 2008. (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/uk-posts-biggest-budget-surplus-since-2008-2015-02-20-5103546)

The near-term bias remains bullish above the $1.5350 level, he wrote, "but things could get ugly if the low of $1.5315 from earlier in the week is taken out. In that case, the [pound] could drop all the way to the next support at $1.5210 before making its next move."

The euro (EURGBP), meanwhile, stepped higher against sterling, buying 73.87 pence versus 73.63 pence ahead of the data. The shared currency earlier Friday had hovered around a seven-year low against the pound.

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