The London Stock Exchange Group offices are seen in the City of London, Britain, December 29, 2017. REUTERS.
Summary
- StanChart slides as FAB quashes takeover talks
- JD Sports slips after Adidas' bleak outlook
- UK economy narrowly avoids recession in Q4 2022
- FTSE 100 down 0.2%, FTSE 250 off 0.6%
The blue-chip FTSE 100 (.FTSE) dipped 0.2% after hitting a record high in the previous session. The domestically exposed FTSE 250 (.FTMC) fell 0.6%.
Standard Chartered (STAN.L) tumbled 4.8% after First Abu Dhabi Bank (FAB) (FAB.AD) said it was not currently evaluating an offer for the British bank. Its shares surged over 11% on Thursday after a report said FAB was considering reviving the bid.
Britain's economy showed zero growth in the final three months of 2022, figures from the Office for National Statistics showed, meaning it narrowly avoided entering a recession, in line with what most economists were anticipating.
"There is still a chance the economy will still suffer two back-to-back quarters of negative growth this year, but the murky stretch of water ahead is set to be shallower and less lengthy than predicted in the autumn," said Susannah Streeter, head of money and markets, Hargreaves Lansdown.
"Inflation is inching down here in the UK and in other nations around the world. There is also more confidence washing around, helped by the reopening of China's vast economy."
While the FTSE 100 was set for a small weekly gain, helped by upbeat earnings and a jump in commodity prices, the midcap index was on course for a 2% weekly decline on worries that the Federal Reserve will keep hiking interest rates.
Oil major BP (BP.L) rose 2.7% to touch a fresh three-year high, while Shell (SHEL.L) gained 1.4% as oil prices , jumped nearly 3% on hopes for strong fuel demand recovery in China.
UK's oil & gas index (.FTNMX601010) rose 1.9% to its highest level since August 2019.
Sports and fashion retailer JD Sports (JD.L) fell 1.8% after Germany's Adidas (ADSGn.DE) flagged it expects a high single-digit decline in sales this year.
Barclays PLC (BARC.L) slipped 0.7% after the Financial Times reported Britain's financial regulator is investigating the bank for suspected failings in its compliance and anti-money laundering systems.
(Source: Reuters), all rights reserved by original source.