FTSE 100 live: London’s blue chip index ends the week on a positive, but subdued note

The FTSE 100 ended a quiet week with another subdued session on Friday, but it managed to eke out a small gain and kept above 7,900 points.

Shares in the top index in London gained 11.52 points, rising by 0.2 per cent to 7,914.13.

It came despite heavy losses for the country’s biggest mining companies. Anglo American, Rio Tinto, Fresnillo, Antofagasta and Endeavour Mining were all bottom of the FTSE on Friday.

“Miners on the FTSE 100 have taken a tumble as Chile’s president announced plans to nationalise lithium mines,” said Danni Hewson, head of financial analysis at AJ Bell.

“The metal is a crucial component in the manufacture of EV batteries and demand has shot up,

“The Chilean government will need to partner with private companies which have the skills, expertise and supply chains to make the extraction profitable, but the extra red tape is likely to create delays and raise prices.”

The Dax index in Frankfurt and Paris’s Cac 40 both closed the day up 0.5 per cent, trading slightly better than the FTSE.

“It’s set up to be a mixed week for markets in Europe, with gains for the FTSE 100 and the Cac 40, with the French index achieving a new record high, while the UK index looks set to gain a foothold back above the 7,900 level for the first time since the March meltdown in the banking sector,” said CMC Markets analyst Michael Hewson.

“Concerns over the economic outlook appear to be acting as more of a drag on the Dax, even though it still managed to make a fresh 12-month high earlier in the week.”

In New York, the S&P 500 was flat while the Dow Jones had dipped around 0.1% shortly after trading stopped in Europe.

The pound dropped 0.2 per cent to 1.242 dollars or 1.132 euros.

There was little news from listed companies on Friday. However payment provider Network International said it had received interest from a potential private equity buyer.

The approach valued the business at more than £2bn the company said. Shares rose 11 per cent

At the same time, Sureserve Group revealed that it had accepted a £214 million offer from another private equity buyer, Cap10.

Shares in the company rose by nearly 37 per cnet.

The biggest risers on the FTSE 100 were Dowlais Group, up 5.02p to 122.22p, Smith & Nephew, up 31.5p to 1,277.5p, Next, up 154p to 6,794p, RS Group, up 20.4p to 900p, and Flutter Entertainment, up 265p to 15,885p.

The biggest fallers on the FTSE 100 were Anglo American, down 161.5p to 2,552.5p, Rio Tinto, down 311.0p to 5,131p, Fresnillo, down 25.0p to 761p, Antofagasta, down 44.0p to 1,530p, and Endeavour Mining, down 52.0p to 2,112p.

Press Association