By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- The U.K.'s FTSE 100 index slipped on
Friday, deepening its weekly loss, with shares of TUI Travel PLC
and miners leading the charge south.
The benchmark index fell 0.1% to close at 6,674.30, ending with
a 0.3% weekly decline.
Shares of TUI Travel led losers in London, down 7.8% to 3.59
pounds, on reports Norwegian shipping magnate John Fredriksen sold
his entire 5.4% stake in the travel agent at GBP3.66 a share.
Mining firms were also on the decline, adding to losses seen on
Thursday, when China's manufacturing purchasing managers' index
pointed to a slowdown in growth and missed analyst
expectations.
"The miners have been relatively weak over the last few sessions
namely on the view that the outlook for commodities remains weak,"
said Atid Latif, director of trading at Guardian Stockbrokers, in
emailed comments. "Of more importance we think the huge
infrastructure investment and capital expenditure by miners that
have been written down or sold on at a loss [are] starting to
affect the bottom line."
"Looking forward we still think that some mining names offer
compelling value at current levels and we still maintain that
upside risk remains underpriced by the sector," he added.
BHP Billiton PLC (BHP) gave up 1.8%, Rio Tinto PLC (RIO) dropped
1.6% and Glencore Xstrata PLC (GLCNF) erased 1.1%. Metals prices
were mixed.
Most banks dropped with shares of HSBC Holdings PLC (HSBC) down
1.1%, Lloyds Banking Group PLC (LYG) off 1.1% and Standard
Chartered PLC 0.6% lower. Banks in Europe rose on Thursday after
Goldman Sachs lifted the European banking sector to overweight from
neutral.
Among risers in London on Friday, shares of Whitbread PLC gained
3% after J.P. Morgan Cazenove lifted the coffee shop and restaurant
operator to overweight from neutral on the back of "recent strong
U.K. macro trends."
William Hill PLC climbed 0.8% after Barclays lifted the betting
firm to overweight. Analysts said the recent weakness in share
prices "represents an excellent opportunity".
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