The FTSE 100 was set to close lower on Friday and end a week many investors will be pleased to see the back of. The tragedy unfolding in the Middle East and nagging concerns around interest rates have hit sentiment, sending major global equity indices lower.
London’s leading index was down 1.1% at the time of writing on Friday.
Only 16 of the 100 FTSE 100 constituents gained on the week as investors choose to sell cyclical sectors and those exposed to interest rates.
Defensive names were the best performers on the week. However, gains were limited with only one share, Endeavour Mining, gaining more than 2%.
“The FTSE 100 is on track to end the week nearly 2% lower, the result of a challenging period for investors worried about war in the Middle East, interest rates potentially staying higher for longer and mixed messages from large corporates in the US,” said Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell.
There was little in the way of major corporate news on Friday, with InterContinental Hotels standing out after providing a Q3 trading update.
“InterContinental Hotels echoed the positive sentiment seen earlier this week from Whitbread,” said Russ Mould.
“Hotels are in rude health as demand is strong which enables operators to push up room rates. InterContinental has been busy buying back shares and it looks as if shareholders will get an update next February on future plans to spend surplus cash.
“However, the key sticking point for investors is the rate of growth for revenue per available room, which slowed in the third quarter versus the first-half period.”
InterContinental Hotels was down 3.7% at the time of writing.
Rentokil Initial had another bad session, losing 4%, after issuing a warning on their North American business yesterday.
Ocado was the FTSE 100 worst performer as the food distribution company lost 5%.