In London on Friday the FTSE 100 was lower again, while the FTSE 250 gained on the day, but both indexes were lower on the week. The 100 lost 0.2 percent on the day, 4.3 percent on the week, and is down 4.3 percent in the past two weeks, ending the day at 5,657.4. The 250 added 0.6 percent on the day but was down by 6.3 percent for the week to close at 9,192.6.
Homebuilders were up on the day after yesterday’s declines due to concerns that interest rates in the UK are about to go up. Retirement home builder McCarthy & Stone added 8.2 percent to 759½p, while Persimmon was up 4.5 percent to £12.00 and Barratt Developments gained 5 percent to 887p.
The biggest gains on the 100 came for British Airways, after it said that profits were up for the full year, helped by the first profit from its shorter routes in ten years. BA added 9.1 percent to 349½p.
The largest losses of the day came in the mining sector. With the price of metals down again, Antofagasta dropped 2.5 percent to £20.39, Xstrata was down 3.7 percent to £19.32, and Kazakhmys declined by 4.4 percent to £10.46.
Supermarket chain William Morrison added 0.9 percent to 191½p on an upgrade to “buy” from Citigroup.