FTSE 100 Under Pressure, Still Poised for Another Weekly Gain

Equities in London dropped for a second consecutive session on Friday, with the blue-chip FTSE 100 hovering slightly above the 7,500 level, dragged by losses in the energy and heavyweight materials sectors.

Investors refrained from opening new positions ahead of the US November federal jobs report, the first-tier piece of data that will give hints about the health of the world's largest economy and the Federal Reserve's rate-hike path.

Rio Tinto and Harbour Energy were among the biggest laggards on the index, down over 2% each.

Still, the FTSE 100 rose roughly 0.5% this week, putting it on track for a third straight weekly gain as investors hope that a policy pivot will come soon.

In November, the export-oriented index rallied almost 7%, the best monthly performance since November 2020.