UKX FTSE 100 Index

By Carla Mozee and Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch

Anglo American soars 38% in April

U.K. stocks dropped on Friday and wiped out a gain for the week, with shares of British Airways's parent under pressure and investors still assessing the impact of central bank inaction.

The FTSE 100 fell 1.3% to close at 6,241.89, ending 1.1% lower for the week. For April, the London benchmark rose 1.1%, for a third straight month of gains.

The blue-chips index on Thursday ended with a minor gain after being rattled by a surprise decision from the Bank of Japan not to launch new stimulus (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/bank-of-japan-makes-you-feel-sorry-for-impotent-central-bankers-2016-04-28).

"Quickly recapping the month, it's been the miners that have shone as commodity prices appear to be moving away from the dark days seen at the start of the year and some stability is returning to the market," said Tony Cross, market analyst at Trustnet Direct, in a note.

Among best performing miners in April, shares of Anglo American (AAL.LN) surged 38% during the month, while BHP Billiton PLC (BLT.LN) (BHP.AU) (BHP.AU) jumped 19% and Rio Tinto PLC (RIO) (RIO) (RIO) climbed 18%.

Movers: Weighing on the benchmark on Friday was International Consolidated Airlines Group SA (IAG.LN)(IAG.LN). Shares lost 4.7%, with their worst session since mid-February coming after the parent of British Airways cut its growth plans (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/iag-cuts-growth-plans-after-brussels-attacks-2016-04-29) in the wake of the Brussels terror attacks in March.

"We believe the scope for positive revisions to fiscal year guidance has been reduced. Given the apparent downside risk from premium traffic softness and a more protracted recovery from the Brussels attacks than expected, we would not be surprised to see consensus slip," said Liberum analyst Gerald Khoo in a Friday note.

Royal Bank of Scotland's (RBS.LN) first-quarter net loss nearly doubled to GBP968 million ($1.41 billion) (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/rbs-loss-nearly-doubles-on-12-billion-payment-2016-04-29) on restructuring charges and a one-off GBP1.2 billion payment to the U.K. government. Shares ended down 6.1%.

Read:Forget about weak European bank earnings -- Citi says it's time to dive in (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/forget-about-weak-european-bank-earnings----citi-says-its-time-to-dive-in-2016-04-29)

AstraZeneca PLC (AZN.LN) slipped 0.8%. The drugmaker, which posted a drop in quarterly profit (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/astrazeneca-investment-eats-into-profit-2016-04-29-54855248), said cost-cutting should result in $1.1 billion in net savings.

Berkeley Holdings Group PLC (BKG.LN) was down 2.3%, adding to Thursday's loss that followed a ratings downgrade by Credit Suisse.

See:Credit Suisse turns bearish on London housing market (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/brexit-fears-turn-credit-suisse-bearish-on-london-housing-market-2016-04-28)

Among the index's few advancers on Friday, Shire PLC (SHPG)(SHPG) shot up 1.8% as the drugmaker's quarterly revenue and earnings exceeded expectations (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/shire-earnings-and-revenue-climb-in-first-quarter-2016-04-29).

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 29, 2016 12:09 ET (16:09 GMT)

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