Slightly reassuring economic figures in the UK, and a steady performance from the Dow Jones Industrial Average, failed to provide the necessary impetus to the London stock market.
The Footsie drifted throughout the day to close a net 11.4 points lower at 4,851.5. The picture was equally placid elsewhere, with the FTSE 250 easing 3.7 to 4,474.7 and the SmallCap down 1.9 to 2,185.7.
Overall turnover was 775.7 million shares, the lowest volume of the week. There was some heavy turnover in BT and BG but the day's biggest volume came in Johnson Matthey as it was announced that JCI of South Africa had sold a big stake.
Yesterday began with a squeeze as Footsie responded to a big turnaround on the Dow in late US trading on Thursday. But the early UK rise of 18.3 died within the first half hour and the market ignored the latest gross domestic product data even though they came in below the consensus forecast.
Footsie was off 11.6 when the GDP numbers were released and continued to weaken for another two hours. It was down 28 points at worst. There was some recovery during the afternoon as New York opened up. But it was insufficient to ensure a net gain on the day or the week.
Activity could fade next week as the summer holidays kick in and investors keep away ahead of the interest rate policy meeting.
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