By Pranav Kashyap and Nikhil Sharma
(Reuters) -The UK’s FTSE 100 ended lower on Friday, weighed down by British American Tobacco following its settlement to end a tobacco lawsuit in Canada, but the blue-chip index logged weekly gains in anticipation of a UK rate cut next month.
The FTSE 100 was down 0.3% after closing at its strongest level since late May in the previous session, while the domestically focussed FTSE 250 index rose 0.2% to close at a two-week high.
British American Tobacco lost 3.2% after the Dunhill and Lucky Strike maker, along with Philip Morris and Japan Tobacco, agreed to pay $23.6 billion to settle a long-running tobacco lawsuit in Canada.
UK-listed precious metal miners gained 1.7%, in tandem with gold prices that scaled a record high, while industrial metal miners rose 1.3%, as China’s new stimulus measures boosted copper prices. [GOL/][MET/L]
Data showed British retail sales unexpectedly rose in September,…
