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Eurozone fall could derail economic recovery ; FTSE 100 [Newcastle Journal (England)](Newcastle Journal (England) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) THE FTSE 100 Index endured another session of losses as it fell 28 points to close at 6510. Official figures showed that eurozone inflation fell to 0.7% in January, down from 0.8% in December and further below the ECB's 2% target. It has fuelled worries about whether the euro bloc could start to suffer deflation, potentially derailing any economic recovery. On top of that, data showed the eurozone unemployment rate in December was unchanged at 12%. All this came despite Mario Draghi's insistence earlier this week that last month's fall in inflation was just a blip. Telecoms giant BT closed Friday's session up 12.4p to 383p after raising its earnings outlook for the year as its broadband business and new BT Sport channels helped it to boost profits by 8% in the third quarter. Retailer Next, which announced on January 3 that it would pay a special dividend of 50p per share to shareholders on February 3, said it would make a further special dividend payment of 50p on May 1 following a strong Christmas period. The shares rose 10p to 6250p. Diageo extended its recent losses after reporting a slowdown of sales in the Emerging Markets. Goldman Sachs downgraded its rating on the drinks group to 'neutral' and slashed its target price from 2660p to 1996p. Diageo's share price fell another 19.5p to 1800.5p Within the Journal North 40 Index, GLAXOSMITHKLINE announced that it had sold Atlean, a dermal filler, to Sinclair IS Pharma, a speciality pharmaceutical company. The deal is for an undisclosed fee and the GLAXOSMITHKLINE share price fell 12.5p on the back of the news. [email protected] (c) 2014 ProQuest Information and Learning Company; All Rights Reserved. |