By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch
Vodafone records best month since November
U.K. stocks fell Friday, leaving British blue chips with a
weekly loss and just a small advance for May.
The FTSE 100 fell 0.8% to 6,984.43 as only shares of nine
companies ended higher. Supermarket shares were among those pushed
lower, with Tesco PLC down 1.8%. Among industrials,
equipment-rental firm Ashtead Group PLC slid 3.5%, adding to
Thursday's 4.6% decline after U.S. peer United Rentals Inc. (URI)
said activity in May had been softer than it had expected.
U.K. stocks were rattled with other European stock markets
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/european-stocks-drop-as-greece-worries-persist-but-stocks-looking-at-monthly-win-2015-05-29)
as investors waited to see if debt-laden Greece was making any
headway on its aim to reach a deal by Sunday with its creditors.
Athens is facing a June 5 debt-service repayment to the
International Monetary Fund. Read: Greek optimism on deal is
misplaced, says German finance minister
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/greek-optimism-on-deal-is-misplaced-says-german-finance-minister-2015-05-29)
The best performance on the FTSE 100 Friday came from Associated
British Foods PLC , up 2.6% after Goldman Sachs raised its rating
on the company to buy from sell. AB Foods runs the clothing
retailer Primark, as well as sugar operations. The roughly 17%
underperformance of the shares so far this year "offers an
attractive entry opportunity in our view," wrote Goldman analysts
in a note.
Vodafone shares rose 0.7%. Some of the largest investors in the
mobile-phone services provider are open to a tie-up with U.S. cable
company Liberty Global (LBTYA), according to a Reuters report
Thursday.
Vodafone shares rallied 10.8% this month, after Liberty's
Chairman John Malone reportedly said last week that Vodafone would
be a "great fit" for Liberty's operations in Western Europe.
For the month, the FTSE 100 rose 0.3%, the smallest monthly gain
since April 2013, according to FactSet data. It closed the
holiday-shortened week down by 0.7%.
In M&A news, U.S. data-center operator Equinix (EQIX) said
Friday it has reached a deal to acquire
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/equinix-agrees-deal-with-telecity-2015-05-29-24852531)
U.K.-based peer Telecity Group PLC valued at 2.35 billion pounds
($3.6 billion). Telecity shares fell 1.1% on the FTSE 250
index.
Sterling: In the currency market, the pound (GBPUSD) fell
against the dollar, trading at $1.5262, compared with $1.5313 late
Thursday. Sterling stayed lower against the greenback following a
report showing the U.S. economy contracted in the first quarter
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-gdp-turns-negative-in-first-quarter-again-2015-05-29).
The pound fell roughly 0.6% versus the dollar this month. "The
technicals have taken complete control of the pound/dollar
throughout May, with the bears seeing the recent close below $1.55
as an opportunity to exploit and price in further declines," Jameel
Ahmad, chief market analyst at FXTM, wrote in emailed comments.
The economic outlook for the U.K. is attractive to traders, but
the Bank of England is "still at least a year from raising interest
rates, especially with their outlook on inflation being so
increasingly dovish," he said.
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