UK indices were down at Friday’s close as Resolute Mining announced a temporary change in its senior management, with Chief Executive Terry Holohan taking a leave of absence.
In UK news, ministers will be given new powers to drive forward clean power energy projects as part of a major action plan to reach 95% clean energy in the UK by 2030.
Speaking to BBC Breakfast, Miliband confirmed that ministers will be able to have the final say on approving onshore wind turbines across the UK. These decisions have previously been left to councils but strict planning rules introduced by the Conservative government in 2015 meant local opposition has often stalled or blocked projects from moving ahead.
Import and export prices in the US rose at a sharply higher level in November than in October, data published by the Bureau of Labor Statistics showed Friday. US export prices grew 0.8% on-year in November, up sharply from just 0.1% in October. This was the largest on-year increase since July, when it was at 1.2%.
Monthly however, US export prices remained stable in November, compared to 1.0% growth in October. US import prices meanwhile rose 1.3% on-year in November, up from 0.6% in October. It was also the sharpest increase since July, when it was at 1.7%.
Monthly US import prices edged up by 0.1% in November, the same pace as in October.
Thomas Ryan at Capital Economics said: ‘The tame November price data has soothed concerns about a resurgence in price pressures, giving the green light for the Fed to cut interest rates by 25bp at next week’s meeting.’
In other local news, mobile network companies in the UK could see their costs reduced by about £40 million a year after Ofcom proposed cutting some of the annual fees it charges them.
Currently, the regulator currently makes companies such as BT Group and Vodafone Group pay annual licence fees to use certain radio frequencies, known as spectrum bands. Those come to about £320 million per year and are paid to the Treasury.
BP closed down 0.4%, while Vodafone closed up 0.5%.
The wider FTSE 100 index closed down 11.43 points, 0.1%, at 8,300.33. The FTSE 250 ended down 59.89 points, 0.3%, at 20,889.15, and the AIM All-Share closed down 3.98 points, 0.5%, at 733.58.
The Cboe UK 100 ended down 0.2% at 832.91, the Cboe UK 250 closed down 0.4% at 18,385.51, and the Cboe Small Companies ended down 0.8% at 16,147.73.
Resolute Mining closed 0.7% lower.
The Africa-focused gold miner said Chief Executive Terry Holohan is taking a leave of absence, effective immediately and lasting until January 31. Chief Financial Officer Chris Eger is filling in as CEO during this time, with Financial Controller Dave Jackson becoming acting CFO.
This follows the detaining and subsequent release of Holohan and two employees last month by the Mali authorities amid a tax dispute.
Cordiant Digital Infrastructure gained 1.8%.
The UK-based investor in specialist digital infrastructure said Chair & Co-Founder Steven Marshall purchased 1.0 million shares on Wednesday, at an average price of 90.7 pence, increasing his holding to 11.7 million shares.
Outside of the stock markets, the UK Competition & Markets Authority on Friday revealed it was starting an investigation into the planned takeover of Preqin Ltd, a privately-held London-based data firm, by BlackRock.
New York City-based BlackRock back at the end of June announced it planned to buy Preqin for £2.55 billion in cash. BlackRock said the transaction is expected to close before the year-end in 2024.
In European equities on Friday, the CAC 40 in Paris ended down 0.2%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt ended down 0.2%.
President Emmanuel Macron on Friday named centrist leader Francois Bayrou as prime minister, handing him the daunting task of hauling France out of months of political crisis.
The 73-year-old head of the MoDem group, which is allied to Macron’s party, was appointed nine days after parliament ousted Michel Barnier’s government in a historic no-confidence vote following a standoff over an austerity budget.
Bayrou’s appointment sparked immediate criticism, with the hard-left France Unbowed, LFI, party and the Greens threatening to back a new motion of censure aiming to bring down his government.
German companies have significantly scaled back their investment plans due to structural issues and economic uncertainty, a survey by a leading think tank revealed.
The ifo Institute’s survey showed a steep decline in investment expectations, falling to minus 9.0 points in November compared to minus 0.1 in March.
‘Due to the structural location problems and high level of uncertainty regarding the economic policy framework, companies are holding back on their investments,’ says ifo economic expert Lara Zarges.
The pound was quoted lower at $1.2620 at the London equities close Friday, compared to $1.2698 at the close on Thursday.
The euro stood slightly higher at $1.0494 at the European equities close Friday, against $1.0491 at the same time on Thursday.
‘The EUR/USD outlook remains negative, however, even if ECB President Christine Lagarde was not as dovish as some might have expected given the political and economic situations in the Eurozone,’ said FOREX.com’s Fawad Razaqzada. ‘Investors are looking forward to potentially the last important week of the year next week, where the Fed and a few other central banks are set to deliver their rate expectations.’
Against the yen, the dollar was trading higher at JP¥153.64 compared to JP¥152.22 late Thursday.
Stocks in New York were mostly lower at the London equities close, with the DJIA up 1.46 points, the S&P 500 index down 0.1%, and the Nasdaq Composite down 0.3%.
Brent oil was quoted higher at $73.94 a barrel at the London equities close Friday from $72.61 late Thursday.
In Middle East news, Israeli Defence Minister Israel Katz has ordered the military to ‘prepare to remain’ throughout the winter in the UN-patrolled buffer zone that is supposed to separate Israeli and Syrian forces on the Golan Heights.
Israel seized the demilitarised zone on the strategic plateau on Sunday, just hours after Syrian rebels swept president Bashar al-Assad from power and drawing international condemnation including from the United Nations. The peacekeeping force UNDOF said it had informed Israel it was in ‘violation of the 1974 disengagement agreement’, referring to the armistice between Syria and Israel that created the buffer zone.
Gold was quoted lower at $2,660.10 an ounce at the London equities close Friday against $2,681.37 at the close on Thursday.
In Monday’s UK corporate calendar, Videndum releases a trading statement.
For the economic calendar, Monday’s packed schedule includes flash composite PMI for Australia, the eurozone and the UK; unemployment and retail sales for China; and the New York Empire State manufacturing index.
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