London close: Stocks little changed despite continuing slide in Brent
London stocks were little changed on Friday, paring earlier small losses as investors eyed this weekend's EU summit, in what turned out to be a quiet end to a busy week.
The FTSE 100 was down 0.11% at 6,952.86, while the pound was down 0.58% against the dollar at 1.28053 and 0.1% firmer versus the euro at 1.1301 as EU leaders prepare to meet later in the day to finalise the Brexit deal ahead of the EU summit on Sunday.
"While oil is stealing the headlines, a stronger US dollar continues to put pressure on commodities, while weaker expectations of economic growth are doing their part as well. Miners and oil stocks are near the bottom of the FTSE 100, and even gold miners are hard hit. Looking to the weekend and beyond, hopes are high that the EU at least will approve the Withdrawal Agreement, but the outlook for the deal in Parliament still looks bleak," said IG's Chris Beauchamp.
To take note of, overnight Monetary Policy Committee member, Michael Saunders, said he thought financial markets were under-pricing the speed at which Bank Rate would need to be raised in case of a "smooth transition" in the economy towards Brexit.
On a more positive note, also overnight Donald Trump reportedly said that "[China] wants to make a deal and we're very happy with that. I'm very prepared, I've been preparing for it all my life".
Meanwhile, in China, the country's vice minister of Foreign Affairs, Wang Chao, said he hoped a meeting between Trump and his Chinese counterpart, Xi Jinping, would go "smoothly".
In terms of sectors, miners were the biggest drag, with BHP Billiton, Anglo American and Rio all in the red as copper prices declined.
Oil stocks were also under pressure, with Royal Dutch Shell and BP trading lower on the FTSE 100 and Premier Oil, Cairn Energy and Tullow among the 250 fallers as oil prices hit a 2018 low amid worries about a global supply glut.
Meanwhile, front month Brent crude oil futures were down by 6.45% at $58.56 a barrel on the ICE, as traders reacted to Thursday's news that Saudi output was running at record levels.
With little else otherwise going on in terms of corporate releases, broker notes provided much of the action.
B&Q owner Kingfisher was hit by a downgrade to 'neutral' from Goldman Sachs but recovered towards the end of the session, while Pearson retreated as Shore Capital cut it to 'hold'.
Fashion retailer Ted Baker slumped as Jefferies slashed its price target to 1,950p from 2,700p, while Fresnillo continued to slide on concerns about proposed Mexican mining laws.
Indivior was little changed despite some much-needed good news, as regulators in Canada approved the drug developer's new monthly treatment for opioid addiction. Health Canada gave the green light to Sublocade, an extended-release buprenorphine injection for the management of moderate to severe opioid use disorder in adults.
On the upside, Royal Mail was the standout gainer on the top-flight index, still buoyed by an upgrade from RBC Capital Markets a day earlier following its first-half results last week.
Ibstock surged to the top of the 250 as it announced the sale of its US brick making unit Glen-Gery to Brickworks Limited for an enterprise value of $110m and use the proceeds to pay off debt. The company also said it still expected to deliver adjusted EBITDA of £121m - £125m for the year to end-December (which assumed a full year 2018 contribution from Glen-Gery of £11m). Ibstock was also given a leg up from an upgrade to 'buy' at Peel Hunt.
Hastings Group was a high riser after an upgrade to 'overweight' at Barclays, while CYBG was boosted by upgrades to 'buy' and 'neutral' at Citi and Credit Suisse, respectively. Burberry edged up after an upgrade to 'hold' at Kepler Cheuvreux.
Outside the FTSE 350, Flybe flew 71% higher as it confirmed talks with Virgin Atlantic, as one of several parties, about a potential takeover of the struggling budget airline.