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(Alliance News) - Stock prices in London closed a mixture of higher and lower on Friday, as trade policy and geopolitical uncertainty continue and world leaders gather at the Munich Security Conference.
US Vice President JD Vance said Friday the US was prepared to put pressure on Russia to end the war in Ukraine, ahead of a meeting in Munich with President Volodymyr Zelensky. Zelensky meanwhile said that once Kyiv reached a common position with the US and Europe on how to end the war, "we will be ready to talk with the Russians".
"Should a deal materialise, it would undoubtedly be a boon for the Eurozone economy, all else being equal," StoneX's Fawad Razaqzada commented.
The FTSE 100 index closed down 32.26 points, 0.4%, at 8,732.46. The FTSE 250 ended down 3.13 points at 20,913.01, and the AIM All-Share closed up 0.4%, or 2.86 points, at 726.06.
The Cboe UK 100 ended down 0.3% at 875.34, the Cboe UK 250 closed marginally lower at 18,279.69, and the Cboe Small Companies ended up 0.7% at 16,226.59.
Entain led the FTSE 100, jumping 6.8%. Schroders was its worst performer, down 3.1%.
NatWest was among the laggers, down 2.0% after its annual results exceeded expectations but the bank's guidance appeared to be "based on conservative assumptions".
However, AJ Bell's Russ Mould commented: "Full-year profits and the dividend for 2024 were both higher than expected at NatWest and, rather like Barclays, the bank is earning and paying its way back into investors' affections after an awfully long time in the post-financial crisis wilderness."
He added: "This is all at a time when the bank is not getting an awful lot of help from the UK economy, although interest rates staying higher for longer than expected does seem to be aiding NatWest's net interest margin and net interest income."
XPS Pensions led the FTSE 250, surging 11%.
The pensions consulting and administration firm said it expects revenue for financial 2025 to be at least GBP226 million, representing growth of at least 15% from GBP196.6 million in the previous year.
It said strong performance had been driven by high demand due to regulatory change, new clients and the inflation-linkage of contracts.
At the other end, John Wood Group plummeted 56%.
"While we have made progress, I am disappointed in our financial performance," Chief Executive Ken Gilmartin said following the engineering and consulting firm's "difficult announcement" of plans for further cost cuts, and a possible refinancing.
The company said it was making cuts to mitigate weaker-than-expected trading in the fourth quarter.
Among smaller caps, Supply@Me more than doubled throughout the day, after it named Bright Grahame Murray as the company's new auditor with immediate effect.
Previous auditor Crowe UK LLP resigned in September, "having carried out a reassessment of the risks related to auditing the company and concluding that they were not willing to continue".
Totally dropped 26%.
The healthcare and wellbeing services provider said it now expects earnings for the next financial year to be "at a similar level" to the current one, after a GBP13 million contract with the National Health Service was not renewed.
In European equities on Friday, the CAC 40 in Paris ended up 0.2%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt ended down 0.5%.
The pound was quoted at USD1.2612 at the London equities close Friday, higher compared to USD1.2535 at the close on Thursday.
The euro stood higher at USD1.0505 at the European equities close Friday, against USD1.0439 at the same time on Thursday.
Against the yen, the dollar was trading lower at JPY152.06 compared to JPY152.97 late Thursday.
"Despite hotter-than-expected [US] inflation data, the greenback softened following Trump's more measured stance on tariffs, while the euro found support amid his expressed willingness to end the Ukraine conflict," noted Razaqzada.
Stocks in New York were mixed at the London equities close, with the DJIA down 0.2%, the S&P 500 index up 1.77 points, and the Nasdaq Composite up 0.1%.
The pace of US industrial production growth decelerated in January, data from the Federal Reserve showed.
US industrial production rose 0.5% monthly in January, slowed from a climb of 1.0% in December and beating the FXStreet-cited consensus of just 0.3% growth.
US retail sales meanwhile had a sharper decline than anticipated in January, data published by the US Census Bureau showed.
US advance monthly retail sales edged down 0.9% in January to USD723.9 billion from USD730.3 billion in December, when sales had grown 0.7%, the latter upwardly revised from 0.4% growth.
Separately, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported prices for US imports increased 0.3% monthly in January, an acceleration from the pace of 0.2% in December, the latter upwardly revised from a previously reported 0.1% climb. January's uptick was still milder than the FXStreet-cited consensus of 0.4%.
Export prices increased 1.3% monthly in January, up from 0.5% in December, and much higher than the FXStreet-consensus, which had expected a slowdown in the pace of the increase to 0.3%. January's growth was the largest monthly increase since 2.7% in May 2022.
Brent oil was quoted at USD74.75 a barrel at the London equities close on Friday, down from USD75.10 late Thursday.
Gold was quoted lower at USD2,893.73 an ounce at the London equities close on Friday against USD2,917.47 at the close on Thursday.
"Trump's declaration that he intends to bring an end to the conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine raises the prospect of reduced haven demand, should he succeed," Razaqzada commented. "At the same time, his protectionist stance and expansive spending plans could keep US inflation elevated, delaying rate cut expectations and lending support to bond yields."
In Monday's UK corporate calendar, MONY Group releases full-year results, while Cap-XX and Wilmington have half-year earnings.
The economic calendar for Monday has GDP and industrial production from Japan, and the eurozone's trade balance.
Markets in the US will be closed for Washington's Birthday, while Canada's will be closed to mark Family Day.
By Emma Curzon, Alliance News reporter
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