(Reuters) – Britain’s FTSE 100 reversed earlier gains to close lower on Friday, dragged down by consumer staples and healthcare stocks, while investors assessed key domestic economic data.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 closed down 0.2% but registered its second straight weekly gain. The domestically focused mid-cap index fell 0.3% but recorded a weekly rise.
Hopes of an imminent interest rate cut by the U.S. Federal Reserve, a surge in gold prices, and a rally in the defence sector have provided some support to the FTSE 100 this week.
Data on Friday showed Britain’s economy recorded no growth in July after a sharp drop in factory output, matching expectations for a slower start to the second half of 2025 but still disappointing for the government ahead of November’s budget.
Fiona Cincotta, senior market analyst at City Index, said, “The outlook for growth remains weak for the UK,” adding that despite the weaker growth, the BoE is likely to hold steady on interest rates until potentially early next year because of sticky inflation and uncertainty surrounding the November budget.
Healthcare stocks fell 1.2%. Heavyweight AstraZeneca lost 1.4%.
A top industry lobby group warned a challenging business environment was hurting the sector.
Energy stocks lost 0.5%. BP declined 1%.
Precious metal miners declined 0.8% with Fresnillo down 1.8%.
Some consumer staples stocks also declined. Diageo fell 1.9%.
Retail stocks lost 0.7%, with JD Sports Fashion falling 2.2% to the bottom of the benchmark index.
Conversely, the aerospace and defence sector rose about 1%, hitting a fresh record high and recording its largest weekly rise in over six months. BAE Systems rose 1.7%.
Utility stocks such as United Utilities and SSE advanced 1.6% each.
Industrial miners rose, tracking higher copper prices. Glencore gained 1.6%.
In other moves, online supermarket and tech firm Ocado fell 19.9% to the bottom of the mid-cap index, after its U.S. partner Kroger signalled a potential retreat from investment in automated warehouses.
JTC said it was in separate talks with private equity firms Warburg and Permira. Shares of the financial services firm hit a record high, up 15.8%, to top the mid-cap index.
(Reporting by Sukriti Gupta; Editing by Vijay Kishore, Rod Nickel)
