* Oil slumps weighs
* FTSE 100 rises 0.2 pct
* Index posts weekly loss
* UK GDP barely grew in Q1(Adds closing prices)
By Julien Ponthus
LONDON, May 25 (Reuters) - A slump in oil prices hit Britishmajors on Friday, limiting the gains of the FTSE 100 benchmarkindex while Kingfisher shone after Australia's Wesfarmerssaid it would sell rival UK home improvement chainHomebase.
The blue chip FTSE 100 ended the day up 0.18 percentat 7,730.28 points but posted a weekly loss of 0.6 percent,breaking an eight-week run of gains.
"The move lower in the oil market on account of speculationthat OPEC will raise output slightly has hit London-listedstocks like BP, Royal Dutch Shell and Tullow Oil," said DavidMadden, an analyst at CMC Markets UK.
Index heavyweights BP and Royal Dutch Shelllost 2 percent and 1.5 percent respectively while Tullow Oilfell 4.1 percent.
Confirmation that Britain's economy barely grew during thefirst quarter of 2018 added pressure to the pound on afive-month low as worries over Brexit continued to take theirtoll.
A lower sterling typically provides an accounting boost toUK companies who sell products or services in foreigncurrencies.
Kingfisher, Europe's second largest home improvementretailer, was a top gainer, up 3.4 percent, as Wesfarmers' saleof Homebase is expected to ease competition in the DIY sector.
Analysts at Jefferies said the sale constituted "very goodnews" for Kingfisher and its B&Q chain, which competes withHomebase.
"Today's news should see B&Q’s biggest competitor becomemuch more sensitive to short, and mid term, margin and cashflowchallenges," they argued.
Britain's BT rose 3.3 percent. The group receivedinformal interest from infrastructure funds keen to own a stakein its core fixed-line network, a person familiar with thematter told Reuters.
Royal Mail shares sustained the heaviest losses,down 2.8 percent as broker Berenberg downgraded the stock to"sell" on increasing growth and profit risks.
It also noted that complying with new EU regulations toprotect privacy may weigh on marketing activities.
AstraZeneca rose 0.9 percent after its immunotherapydrug Imfinzi hit a second important goal by improving overallsurvival in lung cancer patients, boosting prospects for amedicine that has already got off to a promising commerciallaunch.
Among smaller companies, Gold miner Centamin droppedabout 18 percent after it made a drastic cut to its full-yearproduction guidance while Capita jumped 7.7 percentafter it raised 681.4 million pounds through a rights issue.
Environmental infrastructure company Pennon Group added 7.6percent after reporting its full-year profits. Gambling companyGVC Holdings was up 4.3 percent after it raised itsforecast of cost savings from its 4 billion pound acquisition ofLadbrokes Coral.(Reporting by Julien PonthusEditing by Alison Williams)
BP (BP.)
