By Carla Mozee, MarketWatch
LONDON (MarketWatch) -- U.K. stocks slipped Friday, with shares
of Royal Bank of Scotland PLC falling after a report the bank may
be facing a hefty fine in the U.S.
The FTSE 100 dropped 0.2% to 6,555.75. The benchmark had started
higher in the first trading day of 2015, led by a 2.2% advance for
energy engineering firm Weir Group PLC after its shares finished
2014 lower by 13%.
But the FTSE 100's gain was short-lived, in part as shares of
RBS lost 1.1%. The Times newspaper on Friday said the bank could
face fines exceeding 5 billion pounds ($7.77 billion) stemming from
its involvement in the sale of bad mortgage-backed debt in the
U.S., citing people familiar with the matter.
The FTSE 100 ended 2014 with a loss of 2.7%, the first yearly
decline since 2011.
Shares of Lloyds Banking Group PLC , meanwhile, picked up 0.6%
after Investec bumped up its rating on the bank to buy from hold.
Its shares had dropped more than 12% from their peak in January
2014, but "2015 heralds lower conduct costs and greater
predictability of (recovering) underlying earnings," said Investec
in a Friday note.
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