London close: FTSE dragged lower by miners again; software stocks gain

(Sharecast News) - London stocks ended in the red on Friday, dragged lower by weakness in the mining sector again.

The FTSE 100 closed down 0.2% at 10,750.11, while Brent crude was up 0.8% at $87.75 a barrel and West Texas Intermediate was up 0.5% at $81.63 after US Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth said US forces could maintain an indefinite blockade of Iranian ports.

Dan Coatsworth, head of markets at AJ Bell, said: "While European markets were in a holding pattern at the end of the week, their performance has generally been good so far this year, with investors having little reason to grumble.

"The FTSE 100 pulled back slightly on Friday as weakness in miners, pharma, tobacco and banks acted as a headwind. Oil prices are showing no sign of easing back after the recent Middle East conflict-driven spike, which gives investors reason to take stock of events and recalibrate portfolios based on their views of what could happen next."

In equity markets, miners Antofagasta, Glencore, Anglo American and Rio Tinto were among the worst performers on the FTSE 100 as metals prices fell.

Diversified Energy dipped as it confirmed it has had preliminary discussions about a possible acquisition of oil and gas company Birch Resources. Talks are ongoing and remain at an early stage and no agreement has been reached, it said.

The statement came after Bloomberg reported that Diversified was in advanced talks to buy Elliott Investment Management-backed Birch for more than $1.7bn in cash.

On the downside, GB Group tumbled as it cut revenue guidance after secondquarter trading in its Americas Identity unit weakened, with higherthanexpected volume attrition at several key customers holding back growth.

On the upside, Sage and Experian shot to the top of the FTSE 100, lifted by a Reuters report suggesting that private equity firm Silver Lake is in talks to buy US IT software provider Workday in a deal that would rank among the largest software buyouts in history. Kainos, which is a partner and software developer for Workday, also rallied.

Aviva rose as the insurer reported a 24% jump in first-half operating profit to £1.33bn and said it was making very good progress with the integration of Direct Line.

IG Group advanced as RBC Capital Markets reiterated its 'outperform' rating on the stock as it argued it was oversold on news of its acquisition of US prediction markets operator Underdog.

Michael Page shot higher after an upgrade to 'buy' from 'neutral' at UBS, which lifted the price target to 235p from 180p.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 10,750.11 -0.21%

FTSE 250 (MCX) 24,867.42 0.12%

techMARK (TASX) 6,128.97 0.05%

FTSE 100 - Risers

The Sage Group (SGE) 1,060.50p 4.48%

Experian (EXPN) 2,890.00p 2.81%

Autotrader Group (AUTO) 539.60p 2.62%

IG Group Holdings (IGG) 1,363.00p 2.33%

Entain (ENT) 557.20p 2.13%

Legal & General Group (LGEN) 305.00p 1.94%

Aviva (AV.) 726.60p 1.82%

Pershing Square Holdings Ltd NPV (PSH) 3,938.00p 1.81%

BT Group (BT.A) 200.30p 1.65%

Computacenter (CCC) 5,010.00p 1.46%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Antofagasta (ANTO) 3,585.00p -4.55%

Glencore (GLEN) 548.90p -2.14%

AstraZeneca (AZN) 11,460.00p -2.12%

GSK (GSK) 1,817.50p -2.10%

Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 383.50p -1.84%

Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,079.50p -1.68%

Anglo American (AAL) 3,850.00p -1.66%

Spirax Group (SPX) 7,020.00p -1.61%

Halma (HLMA) 3,686.00p -1.55%

Rio Tinto (RIO) 7,059.00p -1.49%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Kainos Group (KNOS) 970.00p 6.24%

Hays (HAS) 69.10p 5.34%

Michael Page (PAGE) 205.40p 5.33%

HGCapital Trust (HGT) 427.00p 4.66%

Rightmove (RMV) 511.00p 4.07%

Energean (ENOG) 761.00p 3.47%

Playtech (PTEC) 382.40p 3.35%

Foresight Environmental Infrastructure Limited (FGEN) 89.40p 2.76%

Bloomsbury Publishing (BMY) 664.00p 2.63%

Ithaca Energy (ITH) 243.40p 2.53%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

GB Group (GBG) 160.60p -30.78%

Ceres Power Holdings (CWR) 438.80p -6.99%

Ocado Group (OCDO) 244.20p -5.13%

Oxford Nanopore Technologies (ONT) 122.00p -3.25%

Worldwide Healthcare Trust (WWH) 380.50p -2.81%

International Workplace Group (IWG) 178.30p -2.30%

IP Group (IPO) 69.30p -2.12%

Vietnam Enterprise Investments (DI) (VEIL) 712.00p -1.93%

THG (THG) 32.14p -1.65%

RHI Magnesita N.V. (DI) (RHIM) 3,000.00p -1.64%