By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch
EasyJet gets an upgrade; pound lifted
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.K. stocks fell Friday and moved toward
a weekly loss, as energy and mining shares came under pressure.
The FTSE 100 fell 0.3% to 6,876.51, 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 most major rivals. Shares of miners Randgold
Resources Ltd. and Anglo American PLC were down 2.7% and 2.9%,
respectively. Oil major BP PLC lost 0.4%.
Antofagasta PLC pulled back 1.2% as the copper producer 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 among the best performers was EasyJet PLC , climbing 1.3%
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 also gained, up 1.2%.
Meanwhile, the pound (GBPUSD) rose against the dollar after Bank
of England Gov. Mark Carney told a conference in Frankfurt the next
move in the country's interest rates will likely be up. Sterling
bought $1.4910 compared with $1.4883 late Thursday. The benchmark
interest rate has stood at 0.5% for the past six years.
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