The FTSE 100 index closed Friday down 0.3% to 7572 points, in line with European peers and mainly dragged by financial stocks and miners, which offset advances for oil-exposed heavyweights. "Despite all the merger an acquisition excitement and a decent showing from parts of Asia and the U.S., it wasn't a great week overall for U.K. shares. The FTSE 100 has gone nowhere for the second week in a row," AJ Bell investment director Russ Mould said in a note. Land Securities and silver producer Fresnillo were the index worst performers, both down 3.35%, followed by and Legal & General, down 3.1%. Mould noted that banks' earning season will start next week, which could bring major implications for the index given its heavy exposure to financial stocks.


COMPANIES NEWS:

Barclays To Buy Tesco's Banking Operations For Around $760 Mln

Barclays has agreed to buy Tesco's retail banking branch for a consideration of around 600 million pounds ($757 million).

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Kinovo Expects Strong Performance

Kinovo said that its continuing business continues to perform well, with particularly strong margins reflecting the implementation of the strategic repositioning of the company, and it had secured a contract extension for fiscal 2025.

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Victrex Revenue Fell; Expects Lower 1H Revenue, Pretax Profit

Victrex said revenue for the first quarter fell as the weakness seen in the second half of fiscal 2023 continued, and that first half revenue and pretax profit are expected to be lower.

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Air Astana Sets Final Pricing Ahead of London Listing, Implying Market Cap of $847 Mln

BAE Systems-backed Air Astana said the pricing for its global depositary receipts has been set at $9.5 each, and 1,073.83 Kazakhstan tenge ($2.38) a share, implying a market capitalization of around $847 million.

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Belluscura's Increases TMT Stake After Takeover Bid Becomes Wholly Unconditional

Belluscura said it now owns 90.81% of shares in TMT Acquisition after the takeover offer has become wholly unconditional, following an agreement of terms for an all-share offer last month.

MARKET TALK:

Universal Music Would Benefit From Queen's Catalog in TikTok Standoff

1214 GMT - Acquiring Queen's catalog would help Universal Music Group in its standoff with TikTok after the record label pulled songs from the social-media platform for failing to reach a licensing agreement, UBS analysts write in a note to investors. Billboard magazine reported that the British rock band may already be in exclusive negotiations with an undisclosed suitor to sell its catalog for $1.2 billion, citing sources. "We understand UMG does not have the distribution rights for Queen's recorded music in the US and Canada, so owning the publishing rights would potentially give them control over US distribution," the analysts say. They note that Queen has 3 million followers on TikTok. Universal Music shares trade 0.6% lower at EUR27.10. (mauro.orru@wsj.com)


Contact: London NewsPlus, Dow Jones Newswires;


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

02-09-24 1224ET