Footsie ends the week on a negative note

The FTSE 100 ended in the red as housebuilders and mining stocks weighed on the index.

London’s blue chip market suffered a fall of 58.71 points, or 0.83 per cent, to close at 6,980.24, with Antofagasta, Fresnillo and Anglo American all ending in negative territory.

Fiona Cincotta, senior market analyst at City Index, said: “The heavy weighted miners were taking a beating after manufacturing data from China overnight highlighted the growing impact of the US trade war.

“Chinese manufacturing activity dropped to the lowest level in 2 years and high tariffs that have been applied to both US and Chinese goods are starting to be reflected in economic data, as the G20 summit begins.”

Housebuilders were also under pressure following Nationwide’s latest index. It showed house price growth picked up in November from a previous five-year low, but the market remains “subdued”, the building society concluded.

Property values increased by 0.3 per cent month on month, compared with 0 per cent growth in October. The annual rate of house price growth also strengthened, to 1.9 per cent in November, from 1.6 per cent in October, which had been the weakest annual increase seen in more than five years. Taylor Wimpey shed 4.55p to end at 134p, Barratt Developments close down 10.5p at 462.2p, Berkeley Group lost 80p to end at 3,226p and Persimmon dropped 65.5p to

1,900p. FTSE 250 listed Kier Group also took a hammering after it announced a rights issue. Shares tumbled 244.5p to 508p.