By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.K. stocks fell Friday, with mining
stocks under pressure, but the FTSE 100 benchmark remained on track
for a weekly rise.
The FTSE 100 fell 0.1% to 6,868.70.
Mining stocks lagged as prices for metals lost ground, with a
modest pull back in gold (GCZ4) leaving futures near a 11-week low.
Shares of Randgold Resources Ltd. fell 3.1%, headed for their
fourth consecutive loss. Earlier this week, Deutsche Bank
downgraded the gold producer to a hold from buy rating.
Precious-metals producer Fresnillo fell 1.9% and Rio Tinto gave
up 0.9%.
Shares of BP (BP) were off 0.3% after the oil major said late
Thursday it plans to appeal a ruling by a U.S. federal judge who
found the company grossly negligent in the 2010 Deepwater Horizon
disaster.
BP shares on Thursday dropped 5.9%, the sharpest fall since June
2010, after the judge's decision was released.
Investors in the U.K. and across Europe were also keeping watch
on any developments about a possible cease-fire agreement for
eastern Ukraine, as well as figures from the U.S. Labor Department
on the jobs market in August.
The FTSE 100 was looking at a weekly gain of 0.7%.
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