UK stocks post weekly declines as energy and financials lag

Elementis

05/12/2025 17:16

FTSE 100 down 0.5%, FTSE 250 flat

BP, Shell fall, weighing on energy sector

Trustpilot shares jump after Morgan Stanley rating upgrade

Watches of Switzerland rises on PT upgrade

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Dec 5 (Reuters) - UK's FTSE 100 edged lower on Friday, logging a sharp weekly decline, dragged down by energy and financial shares, even as investor expectations for a U.S. Federal Reserve rate cut next week grew after key U.S. inflation data.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 .FTSE closed 0.5% lower, while the midcap FTSE 250 .FTMC was little changed with both ending the week in the red.

Oil & gas stocks .FTNMX601010 led the sell-off, tracking oil prices. Shell SHEL.L was down 1.4%, while BP.L fell 2.6%. Bank of America Global Research cut the latter's rating to "underperform" from "neutral".

Heavyweight banks .FTNMX301010 dropped 1.2%, with Standard Chartered STAN.L, Barclays BARC.L and HSBC HSBA.L falling over 1% each.

Aerospace and defence shares .FTNMX502010 fell, with BAE Systems BAES.L and Rolls-Royce  marginally down.

On the flip side, Personal goods shares .FTNMX402040 were among top gainers, with Watches of Switzerland rising 2.6% after three brokerages raised their price targets. Burberry BRBY.L added 1.4%.

Chemicals shares .FTNMX552010 gained 1%.

The investment banking and brokerage services index .FTNMX302020 rose 1.1% with Investment firm 3i Group III.L gaining 2.5%.

Among individual shares, AstraZeneca AZN.L added 0.6%, snapping a six-day losing streak.

Trustpilot TRST.L shares jumped 13.3% after a Morgan Stanley upgrade despite short-seller claims. The global review platform said it rejected allegations made by short-seller Grizzly Research.

Investor expectations for a Fed rate cut have increased since U.S. personal consumption expenditure data (PCE) - the Fed's preferred gauge of inflation - suggested a loss of momentum in the economy.

 (Reporting by Utkarsh Tushar Hathi and Twesha Dikshit in Bengaluru; editing by Vijay Kishore and Mark Heinrich)

 ((utkarshtushar.hathi@thomsonreuters.com))