By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch
Carnival cruises higher; pound lifted
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.K. stocks fell Friday and moved toward
a weekly loss, as energy and mining shares came under pressure.
The FTSE 100 fell 0.5% to 6,861.34, looking at a fourth
consecutive decline. It was also on track for a 2.3% decline from
last Friday, which would mark the index's third weekly loss in four
weeks.
The heavily weighted natural-resources group traded in the red,
alongside a fall in oil and metals prices, although most prices for
resources were headed for weekly gains. Shares of miners Randgold
Resources Ltd. and Anglo American PLC were down 3.5% each. Oil
major BP PLC lost 0.6%.
Antofagasta PLC pulled back 1.6% as the copper producer said it
has suspended operations at three mines because of heavy rains in
the Atacama Desert in northern Chile. The three affected mines are
expected to make up 49% of the company's estimated 2015 production,
said Jefferies in a note. "While production operations have been
temporarily suspended, some processing of stockpiled material has
been possible," Jefferies said.
But Carnival PLC shares shot up to the top of the FTSE 100, with
a 5.3% rise coming after Carnival Corp. (CCL) posted quarterly
earnings that surpassed Wall Street's expectations
(http://www.marketwatch.com/story/carnival-shares-rally-as-profit-beats-expectations-2015-03-27).
EasyJet PLC climbed 1.4% following an upgrade to outperform from
sector perform at RBC Capital Markets. "To us, beyond [first-half]
trading ... we think the summer intra-Europe airline outlook has
become more positive," said analysts.
Shares of British Airways parent International Consolidated
Airlines Group also gained, up 1.7%.
Meanwhile, the pound (GBPUSD) rose against the dollar after Bank
of England Gov. Mark Carney told a conference in Frankfurt the next
move in the country's interest rates will likely be up. Sterling
bought $1.4895 compared with $1.4883 late Thursday. The benchmark
interest rate has stood at 0.5% for the past six years.
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