By Sara Sjolin, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.K.'s FTSE 100 index rebounded slightly
on Friday after a fresh poll on the Scottish independence
referendum put the pro-union campaign in the lead.
The benchmark index added 0.1% to 6,809.27, after closing down
0.5% on Thursday. On the week, the FTSE was eyeing a 0.7%
decline.
Scotland update: The polls leading up to the Sept. 18 referendum
had earlier this week showed the race between "yes" and "no" was
neck to neck, with one survey last weekend actually putting the
pro-independence voters in the lead. A new YouGov survey published
late Thursday showed the "no" was ahead with 52% of votes, calming
nerves that the U.K. could break up and giving a lift to stocks in
London on Friday.
Movers: Scotland-exposed stocks inched higher, with Royal Bank
of Scotland Group PLC (RBS) up 1%, Lloyds Banking Group PLC (LYG)
rising 0.5% and utility firm SSE PLC 0.4% higher.
Mining firms also rose. Shares of BHP Billiton PLC (BHP) climbed
0.7%, Rio Tinto PLC (RIO) added 0.7% and Fresnillo PLC put on
0.4%.
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