London’s FTSE 100 gave up early gains to close down around 0.5% at 9,669 on Friday, marking its lowest level in over a week and underperforming European peers. The biggest drags came from oil & gas majors BP (-2.6%) and Shell (-1.4%) following downgrades by JPMorgan, while declines in Smiths Group (-3.5%) and Melten Energy & Metals (-2.7%) also weighed on the index. Financials faced headwinds, with Standard Chartered and Prudential each down roughly 1.6%. In contrast, personal goods shares were among the top performers, led by JD Sports Fashion (+2.8%) and Burberry Group (+1.4%). On the data front, Halifax reported that house price growth stalled in November ahead of the Budget, although the average price still edged up to a record 299,892 GBP. For the week, the index shed about 0.6%.