By Barbara Kollmeyer, MarketWatch
MADRID (MarketWatch) -- London stocks titled lower on Friday,
with drug makers and resource stocks weaker, in step with moves
across European markets.
Shares of Pearson PLC rose after a media report that its
Financial Times unit could be up for sale, later denied by the
company.
The FTSE 100 index fell 0.1% to 6,234.34, leaving the index on
track for a weekly 1.7% gain, a quarterly loss of nearly 3% and a
monthly drop of over 5%.
Among the heavyweights, some oil companies were pulling back
from recent gains, with BP PLC (BP) and BG Group PLC each down
around 0.8%. Mining companies were largely flat versus the prior
day, though Glencore Xstrata PLC fell 1.3%.
Drug companies followed moves in Europe, where big names were
weaker. Shares of AstraZeneca SA (AZN) fell 1%.
Shares of SABMiller PLC fell over 1% after Nomura analyst Ian
Shackleton said he expects a slowish start to the year when the
company reports first-quarter volumes next month. "Although we
still see a strong long-term growth story, valuation is looking
quite full, and we expect some consolidation of the shares at the
current level," he said in a note.
On the upside, shares of heavyweight Vodafone Group PLC rose
0.6% after Deutsche Bank upgraded shares to buy from hold. Analyst
Paul Reynolds said the recent offer from Vodafone for German cable
operator Kabel Deutschland Holding AG could be the "tipping point"
for Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) to buy Vodafone's minority
stake in mobile-operator Verizon Wireless.
Deal talk pushed shares of Pearson PLC up nearly 1.7%. The Edge
Review, a digital magazine based in Malaysia said Rupert Murdoch,
the owner of News Corp (NWS)(NWS)(NWS) which owns MarketWatch, the
publisher of this report, was in talks with Abu Dhabi's state media
group to acquire Pearson's Financial Times Group for around $1.2
billion.
A spokesman for Pearson said the FT Group was "not for sale,"
while a spokesman for News Corp said the report was "completely
untrue."(NWS)
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