By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch

Smiths Group rallies after earnings to close up 2.9%

U.K. stocks finished slightly lower Friday, as investors were on tenterhooks ahead of a closely watched U.S. health-care vote set for after the close of London trade, which could have implications for the domestic market.

The FTSE 100 index slipped 0.1% to close at 7,336.82, logging its worst weekly decline since January, off 1.2%, according to FactSet data.

Trading on the British exchange came as last night's U.S. congressional vote on a repeal of Obama's Affordable Care Act was delayed to late Friday. U.S. stocks edged higher in Friday trade, but were still on track for their worst weekly performance this year (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/us-stock-futures-set-course-for-worst-week-since-november-as-trump-doubts-niggle-2017-03-24).

Read:Trump's ultimatum--Pass health bill now or live with Obamacare (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/trump-ultimatum-pass-health-bill-now-or-live-with-obamacare-2017-03-23)

Hopes that President Donald Trump will push through tax cuts and massive infrastructure spending have sent stock markets globally to record highs in recent months. However, momentum this week in that so-called Trump trade has receded as investors question the new administration's ability to bring to fruition its pro-business proposals.

"This adds to concerns that Trump lacks enough house support (even among Republicans) and that he may struggle to get approval for all the stimulus policies he pledged," said analysts at Accendo Markets, in a note.

"Markets aren't panicking. This is thanks to suggestions that a favorable vote isn't a prerequisite for work to begin on other measures like tax cuts and infrastructure spending. However, it would mean Republicans, who have hated ACA since its 2010 birth, have to accept it will stay. An ultimatum, if you like, setting markets up for a dollop of weekend risk," they added.

See:Here's what the health-care vote means for financial markets (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/what-traders-are-watching-as-health-care-vote-looms-2017-03-23)

Stock movers: Shares of Smiths Group PLC (SMIN.LN) closed up 2.9% after the engineering company said its pretax profit more than doubled in the first half (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/smiths-group-profit-more-than-doubles-dividend-up-2017-03-24) thanks to strong sales, among other factors.

Kingfisher PLC (KGF.LN) ticked 0.3% higher, even after the do-it-yourself retailer provided a cautious outlook earlier this week. Still, the company logged a 6.3% weekly drop, marking its biggest weekly loss since Dec. 11 2015, according to FactSet data.

Next PLC (NXT.LN) fell 1.6%, trimming its more than 8% jump from Thursday that came after the fashion retailer maintained its final dividend at GBP1.05 and confirmed its guidance for the current year (http://www.marketwatch.com/story/fashion-retailer-next-posts-drop-in-profit-2017-03-23).

Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB.LN) (RDSB.LN) dropped 0.8%. The oil giant said Friday it is selling its Gabon onshore interests for up to $737 million as part of its plans to reduce debt.

 

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 24, 2017 13:21 ET (17:21 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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