Feb 06 (Reuters) - London's FTSE 100 ticked higher on Friday, as gains in heavyweight lenders offset another slide in data analytics firm RELX, which joined a global selloff this week on fears over
FTSE 100 Gains as Major Banks Counter RELX Decline; Weekly Upswing Recorded
Market Overview and Key Influences
Feb 6 (Reuters) - London's FTSE 100 ended higher on Friday after heavyweight lenders offset another slide in data analytics firm RELX, giving the index a positive finish to a week that had been marred by a tech selloff.
Impact of Banking Stocks
The blue-chip index closed up 0.6%, securing a second straight weekly gain, helped also by the Bank of England signalling on Thursday that interest rates could fall if the drop in inflation is sustained.
RELX and Other Market Movements
The domestically focused mid-cap FTSE 250 rose 0.5% but still logged a second straight week of losses.
Political and Economic Context
Business information group RELX slid 3.9%, falling for a fourth straight week, while London Stock Exchange Group also fell 0.7%, marking its third consecutive weekly decline.
But financial stocks, heavily weighted in the index, were up; banks Lloyds, NatWest Group and Barclays rose between 0.9% and 2.8%.
Across the Atlantic, investors assessed earnings from megacap Amazon that projected a more than 50% boost in capital spending this year, sending its shares down 8%.
Domestic political uncertainty lingered, with Prime Minister Keir Starmer facing the most serious threat yet to his position after emails revealed the depth of ties between the disgraced late financier Jeffrey Epstein and Peter Mandelson, Britain's former ambassador to the United States.
Eurasia Group, a political risk consultancy, put the probability of Starmer's removal this year at 80%, up from 65%, saying the controversy over Mandelson's appointment had dealt "irreparable damage".
London-listed miners rose; Fresnillo was up 3.1%, among the top gainers of the benchmark index. [GOL/].
Separately, British house prices rose in January by the most in more than a year, mortgage lender Halifax said, adding to signs of a recovery in the housing market.
Among other stocks, Metlen fell 20.2% after the Greek energy and metals group said it expects 2025 EBITDA to be 25% lower.
Next added 0.7% after the fashion retailer said it has purchased British footwear brand Russell & Bromley through an insolvency process, paying 2.5 million pounds ($3.4 million).
(Reporting by Tharuniyaa Lakshmi in Bengaluru; Editing by Sahal Muhammed and Gareth Jones)
