LONDON: The UK’s FTSE 100 ended lower on Friday, weighed down by British American Tobacco following its settlement to end a tobacco lawsuit in Canada, but the blue-chip index logged weekly gains in anticipation of a UK rate cut next month.
The FTSE 100 was down 0.3% after closing at its strongest level since late May in the previous session, while the domestically focussed FTSE 250 index rose 0.2% to close at a two-week high.
British American Tobacco lost 3.2% after the Dunhill and Lucky Strike maker, along with Philip Morris and Japan Tobacco, agreed to pay $23.6 billion to settle a long-running tobacco lawsuit in Canada.
UK-listed precious metal miners gained 1.7%, in tandem with gold prices that scaled a record high, while industrial metal miners rose 1.3%, as China’s new stimulus measures boosted copper prices.
Data showed British retail sales unexpectedly rose in September, contradicting signs that consumers were downbeat about possible tax rises ahead of the new government’s first budget later this month. Gains this week in UK stock markets were mainly powered by Wednesday’s data that showed British inflation fell to 1.7%, below the BoE’s 2% target, bolstering bets for a rate cut by the Bank of England on Nov. 7.
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