FTSE ends week little changed
The FTSE 100 closed down slightly today, as mid-session gains vanished by the end of the day.
The flagship index was down 0.06 per cent at 5,866.82 but November still finished as one of the best-performing months of the year for London stocks.
The markets were hit by this afternoon’s release of figures showing record-high unemployment across the Eurozone, as well as continuing worries over the fate of US budget negotiations.
There were few substantial rises, with chip maker ARM Holdings topping the leaderboard with an increase of 1.5 per cent.
Aberdeen Asset Management also recovered some lost ground, while engineering firm IMI and Polymetal both added more than one per cent.
Burberry fell by 2.3 per cent after investors decided they had pushed the stock too high in recent days.
Meanwhile B&Q owner Kingfisher fell after analysts downgraded its stock as a result of poor sales.
In the FTSE 250 Sportingbet fell after the gambling business said that a dearth of fixtures had impacted on its profitability.