London stocks fell on Friday, with the FTSE 100 set for its worst monthly loss since March on fears that lockdowns to tackle surging coronavirus cases would disrupt a nascent economic recovery.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 index lost 0.8%, dragged lower by mining, personal goods maker and aero stocks.

The domestically focussed mid-cap FTSE 250 fell 0.8%.

Both the indexes fell for a fifth straight session as pressure mounted on Britain to impose a second nationwide lockdown, even as the government said it would stick with a system of local restrictions.

NatWest Group Plc jumped 3.1% to the top of the FTSE 100 index after the lender swung to a quarterly profit as it set aside a smaller-than-expected amount to deal with pandemic-driven bad loans. (Reuters)

Source: www.businessworld.ie