By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Most U.K. stocks dropped and the pound
rose on Friday after Bank of England Governor Mark Carney
reportedly said he sees no need for further bond-buying to spur the
U.K. economy.
The FTSE 100 index gave up 0.8% to 6,512.66, closing 1.3% lower
on the week.
Meanwhile, the pound (GBPUSD) jumped against most major
currencies, trading at $1.6133 from $1.6039 on late Thursday.
The moves came after the BOE boss told the Yorkshire Post that
the case for expanding the central bank's bond-buying program has
weakened as the economy has started to pick up.
"My personal view is, given the recovery has strengthened and
broadened, I don't see a case for quantitative easing and I have
not supported it," he told the paper.
He said, however, that the central bank would consider more
quantitative easing if the recovery falters.
Underlining Carney's point about the recovery, market research
firm GfK said consumer confidence in the U.K. rose to -10 in
September from -13 in August, marking the highest level since
2007.
The upbeat data weren't, however, enough to lift the U.K.'s
benchmark index, partly due to drops for the mining and oil firms.
Shares of Anglo American PLC fell 1.9%, Rio Tinto PLC (RIO) dropped
2.3%, and BHP Billiton PLC (BHP) gave up 2.2%.
In the energy sector, shares of BP PLC (BP) fell 0.7% and Royal
Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB) dropped 0.6%.
Banks were also broadly lower, with shares of Barclays PLC (BCS)
1.3% lower, Standard Chartered PLC down 0.8% and heavyweight HSBC
Holdings PLC (HBC) off 0.8%.
On a more upbeat note, shares of Bunzl PLC climbed 0.4% after
Goldman Sachs lifted the distribution and outsourcing company to
neutral from sell.
Also of interest for the London stock market, the U.K.
government set the price range for Royal Mail's initial public
offering at 260 pence to 330 pence a share and said full trading is
expected to start on the London Stock Exchange Oct. 15. Based on
the price range, Royal Mail will have a market capitalization of
2.6 billion pounds ($4.17 billion) to 3.3 billion pounds.
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