FTSE 100 Drifts Lower In Cautious Trade

(RTTNews) - The UK stock market drifted down a bit on Friday, underperforming its peers, as investors remain a bit cautious ahead of proposed negotiations between U.S. and Iran this weekend to bring an end to the ongoing conflict in the Middle East.

The benchmark FTSE 100 was down 22.88 points or 0.22% at 10,567.11 nearly half an hour before noon.

SSE and Centrica, both shed more than 6%. Tesco, Vodafone Group, Anglo American Plc, Antofagasta, Glencore, Marks & Spencer, Next, BP, Shell, Severn Trent, United Utilities, Prudential, Sainsbury (J) and Endeavour Mining lost 1%-2.5%.

Intertek Group gained 3.75%, extending previous session's upmove. The Sage Group climbed 3.5%. Relx, Burberry Group, ICG, BAE Systems, Diageo, Standard Life, LSEG and Compass Group moved up 1.5%-2%.

Segro, RightMove, Autotrader Group, Reckitt Benckiser, Informa, Intecontinental Hotels Group, 3i Group and Experian also moved notably higher.

DiscoverIE climbed about 2.5%. In a pre-close trading update for the fiscal year ending March 2026, the customized electronics manufacturer has said that trading had accelerated sharply in the fourth quarter.