FTSE close: Index closes the week on a muted note, as traders eye 8,000 barrier
London’s blue chip index closed at 7,882.45, down 28.70 points, or 0.36 per cent as investors paused for breath at the end of a trading week which saw the FTSE 100 hit an all-time high.
Optimism over the British economy, which narrowly avoided recession, appeared to be tempered with a warning from Jeremy Hunt, Chancellor of the Exchequer, who said the UK ‘was not out of the woods yet’.
On Wednesday the index rose by almost one per cent, reaching a peak of 7,934.30 points, surpassing the former high of 7,906.58 points set on 3 February.
The FTSE 100 ended that day at 7885 points, up 20 points or 0.25 per cent higher but below last Friday’s record closing high.
The FTSE 250, which includes medium sized companies by market capitalisation was down 1.22 per cent at 20,030.07 points.
FTSE winners included BP and Shell which both announced recored profits during the week, they were up 3.24 per cent and three per cent respectively at 563.35p and 2,539.75p.
Losers included Ocado down 11.31 per cent at 634.34p and Standard Chartered which was down 5.24 per cent at 727.3p following First Abu Dhabi Bank’s insistence it was not currently evaluating an offer for the bank.