By Clare Hutchison, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) ? Britain?s benchmark stock index traded moderately lower on Friday as the finalization of a debt deal in Greece failed to lift sentiment and the mining sector sustained losses.
The FTSE 100 /quotes/zigman/3173262 UK:UKX -0.0049% ?fell 0.1% to 5,855.15.
The Greek government said Friday that more than 80% of its private-sector creditors had agreed to a bond swap scheme that will help save the country from default and secure a second bailout package from international lenders.
Greece passes key debt test
Greece has just completed details of the largest sovereign bail out in history that will restructure about $264 billion of debt. But, there could still be some fall out. Dow Jones's Martin Essex and Costas Paris discuss the details. Photo: Reuters
Markets are also awaiting key U.S. non-farm payroll data due later.
In a reversal of the previous session, resource stocks were providing much of the downward pressure. Miners, who make up almost 15% of the FTSE 100, were hit hardest.
Fresnillo PLC /quotes/zigman/510593 UK:FRES -2.81% ?shed 3.9% to land the bottom spot on the FTSE 100. Deutsche Bank downgraded its rating on the stock to hold from buy.
Kazakhmys PLC /quotes/zigman/391399 UK:KAZ -2.07% ?declined by 2.7% and Evraz PLC /quotes/zigman/7218774 UK:EVR -0.75% ?was down 1.5%. Xstrata PLC /quotes/zigman/300486 UK:XTA -1.05% ?and Glencore International PLC /quotes/zigman/5131911 UK:GLEN -0.91% , who are currently negotiating a merger, dropped 1.1% and 1%, respectively.
Other resources stocks pulled back, including oil giant BP PLC /quotes/zigman/210014 UK:BP -0.91% ? /quotes/zigman/247026/quotes/nls/bp BP +1.22% , which was off 0.8%. Royal Dutch Shell PLC /quotes/zigman/359955 UK:RDSB -0.59% ?slipped 0.4%, while Tullow Oil PLC /quotes/zigman/271296 UK:TLW -1.16% ?was down 0.7%. Tullow Oil was earlier cut to hold from buy at Societe Generale.
In contrast, Societe Generale lifted Cairn Energy PLC /quotes/zigman/8619072 UK:CNE +1.73% ?to buy from hold. Cairn climbed close to the top of the index with a 1.5% gain.
Smith & Nephew PLC /quotes/zigman/263642 UK:SN -1.59% ?moved lower after Goldman Sachs cut its rating on the healthcare company to neutral from buy. Shares fell 1.4%.
Insurer Admiral PLC /quotes/zigman/356643 UK:ADM -0.52% ?also fell on broker action, losing 0.7%. Bank of America Merrill Lynch analysts downgraded Admiral to underperform from neutral, citing headwinds to top-line growth as a reason for the move.
On the upside, Aggreko PLC /quotes/zigman/5750339 UK:AGK +2.61% ?topped the index after reporting its full-year results. Profit after tax rose to 231.5 million pounds ($364.7 million) in 2011, up 8.6% from 213.1 million pounds in 2010. Aggreko shares rose 2.7%.
Old Mutual PLC also pushed higher on earnings and scored a 0.6% gain. The insurer reported an 8% increase pre-tax profit adjusted to account for its Nordic unit being discontinued.
ITV PLC /quotes/zigman/337392 UK:ITV +2.37% was among the top climbers in early trading, adding 2.1%. UBS lifted its rating on U.K. media stocks to overweight from neutral, identifying the sector?s exposure to the U.S. macroeconomic and dollar strength as a key benefit.
British Sky Broadcasting Group PLC /quotes/zigman/143786 UK:BSY +1.73% ?climbed 1.2% and Reed Elsevier PLC /quotes/zigman/494833 UK:REL +0.64% ?advanced 0.4%.
Telecommunications company BT Group PLC /quotes/zigman/290858 UK:BT.A +1.80% ?gave positive support with a 1% gain, as did pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca PLC /quotes/zigman/244926 UK:AZN +0.67% , which added 0.5%.
Outside the benchmark, London Stock Exchange Group PLC /quotes/zigman/409946 UK:LSE +9.52% ?rallied 7%, after the firm announced it had struck a deal to buy a 60% stake in clearing house LCH.Clearnet Group Ltd.
/quotes/zigman/3173262
Volume: 0.00
March 9, 2012 12:17p
/quotes/zigman/510593 Volume: 420,348
March 9, 2012 12:16p
/quotes/zigman/391399 Volume: 1.24M
March 9, 2012 12:17p
/quotes/zigman/7218774 Volume: 397,642
March 9, 2012 12:16p
/quotes/zigman/300486 Volume: 2.56M
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/quotes/zigman/5131911 Volume: 2.89M
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/quotes/zigman/210014 Volume: 10.29M
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/quotes/zigman/247026/quotes/nls/bp Volume: 5.91M
March 8, 2012 4:00p
/quotes/zigman/359955 Volume: 601,567
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/quotes/zigman/271296 Volume: 375,396
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/quotes/zigman/8619072 Volume: 2.80M
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/quotes/zigman/263642 Volume: 1.05M
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/quotes/zigman/356643 Volume: 240,833
March 9, 2012 12:16p
/quotes/zigman/5750339 Volume: 485,321
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/quotes/zigman/337392 Volume: 5.57M
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/quotes/zigman/143786 Volume: 3.22M
March 9, 2012 12:14p
/quotes/zigman/494833 Volume: 944,938
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/quotes/zigman/290858 Volume: 7.63M
March 9, 2012 12:17p
/quotes/zigman/244926 Volume: 624,556
March 9, 2012 12:16p
/quotes/zigman/409946 Volume: 709,488
March 9, 2012 12:17p
Clare Hutchison is a MarketWatch reporter, based in London.
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