FTSE 100 slips back after pound hits almost-two month high
London's blue chip stocks suffered another dip on Friday as the pound added to recent gains.
Some of the City's key multinationals with links to the US, such as pharmaceuticals firms, were weaker during the session as President Donald Trump threatened more tariffs.
The growing prospect of trade wars knocked the dollar again and boosted the pound, causing a drag on London's top markets.
The drop also came despite a broadly positive session for commodity stocks, such as Glencore.
The FTSE 100 finished 32.26 points, or 0.37%, lower to end the day at 8,732.46.
Sterling climbed to its highest level against the dollar since before Christmas as traders sought security in the pound.
Traders have cashed in profits ahead of a prolonged US weekend, following Thursday's surge higher in European and US stock indices, the latter close to their record highs
Axel Rudolph, senior technical analyst at IG
The pound was up 0.32% at 1.260 US dollars and was up 0.07% at 1.200 euros when London's markets closed.
Elsewhere in Europe, the other main markets steadied after strong gains on Thursday, with uncertainty over tariffs and Ukraine causing caution among traders.
The Cac 40 ended 0.18% higher for the day and the Dax index was down 0.57%.
The US markets cooled slightly at the start of trading on Friday amid a broadly subdued session ahead of President's Day.
Axel Rudolph, senior technical analyst at IG, said: 'Traders have cashed in profits ahead of a prolonged US weekend, following Thursday's surge higher in European and US stock indices, the latter close to their record highs.
'An upwardly revised Q4 euro area GDP growth revision wasn't enough to prevent profit taking in the region's stock markets, most of which ended the day in the red.'
In company news, NatWest was in the red after the lender generated less income than in 2023, as borrowing costs started to come down and more people moved savings into accounts with higher interest rates.
However, the firm reported a bigger-than-expected profit for 2024 and confirmed that the Government has sold more shares, with the bank moving closer to private ownership.
NatWest shares were down 2% at 428.1p at the close.
Wood Group plummeted in value after the oil and gas engineering firm said it needs to significantly extend a cost reduction plan after a recent review of the business carried out by consultants at Deloitte had found 'material weaknesses and failures'.
The company, which employs more than 6,000 people in the UK, mostly in Aberdeen, also cancelled employee bonuses and declined to rule out job cuts.
Wood Group shares were 55.6% lower at 29p as a result on Friday.
Healthcare services firm Totally Group was also firmly lower after it told investors it has lost an NHS 111 contract worth about £13 million.
Shares slid by 26.3% to 4.9p after NHS England confirmed it would not renew a current deal.
The price of oil had another dip on Friday, ahead of US vice president JD Vance's meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, amid the prospect that peace talks could ultimately relieve some pressures on energy supply.
A barrel of Brent crude oil was down by 0.25% to 74.84 dollars (£59.37) as markets were closing in London.
The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Entain, up 47.2p to 744.4p, Intermediate Capital, up 56p to 2,426p, Rentokil, up 9.4p to 424.7p, Glencore, up 7.75p to 353.2p, and Croda, up 46p to 3,246p.
The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were Schroders, down 12p to 371.6p, IAG, down 8.9p to 338.5p, AstraZeneca, down 256p to 11,708p, Hikma Pharmaceuticals, down 48p to 2,292p, and NatWest, down 8.9p to 428.1p.
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