London’s FTSE 100 fell for the fifth day on Friday as mining firms fell with copper prices, while financials rose.
At 0714 GMT, the blue-chip index (.FTSE) was up 0.1%, and the mid-cap FTSE 250 (.FTMC) was up 0.3%.
Life insurers (.FTNMX303010) rose 1.7%, headed by Prudential (PRU.L)’s 3.3% rise after a 30% increase in new business earnings.
Base metal miners (.FTNMX551020) are down 1.6%, heading for their largest weekly monthly decrease.
Despite Britain’s economic outlook, NatWest (NWG.L) reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit. However, the firm lost 19.8 billion pounds in deposits, and its shares fell 5.8%.
Pearson (PSON.L) climbed 2.8% after announcing it will reach its annual estimate and save 120 million pounds ($150 million) this year.
Numis Corp (NUM.L) rose 67.2% after Deutsche Bank (DBKGn.DE) announced it would purchase the London-based institutional stockbroker and corporate advisor for 410 million pounds ($511.2 million).
