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* EU Commissioner sees "50/50" chance of Brexit deal
* EasyJet falls on scaling back flying capacity
* All eyes on U.S presidential election
* FTSE 100 down 0.8%, FTSE 250 falls 0.4%
(Adds comment; updates share prices)
By Devik Jain
Nov 6 (Reuters) - London's FTSE 100 fell on Friday after a
four-day rally as concerns over surging coronavirus cases and
Brexit-related uncertainty weighed, while investors awaited the
outcome of a close U.S. presidential election race.
Having risen almost 0.5% in early trading, the blue-chip
FTSE 100 index .FTSE was down 0.8% as pharmaceutical
.FTNMX4570 , retailer .FTNMX5370 and industrial .FTNMX2720
stocks declined.
The domestically-focussed mid-cap FTSE 250 index .FTMC
edged 0.4% lower, with shares in James Fisher and Sons FSJ.L
tumbling 19.4% after a disappointing trading update.
U.S. Democrat Joe Biden gained more ground on President
Donald Trump in the battleground states of Georgia and
Pennsylvania, hours after Trump falsely claimed the election was
being "stolen" from him. "Today it's just awareness that the election still isn't
over especially with Trump's speech last night," said Connor
Campbell, a London-based analyst for Spreadex.
Despite Friday's losses, the FTSE 100 was set for its best
weekly gain since early June as the British government and the
Bank of England ramped up stimulus measures to support an
economy facing the economic impact of a second nation-wide
lockdown.
Britain reported 24,141 new cases of the coronavirus and 378
deaths on Thursday, while Prime Minister Boris Johnson said he
hoped Britain could return to some form of normality before
Christmas if people stick to the lockdown rules. Brexit talks were also in focus with the European Union
Internal Market Commissioner saying there is a "50/50" chance of
Britain and the EU securing a trade-deal. In other company news, EasyJet Plc EZJ.L fell 4.9% after
the airline scaled back its flying capacity for the rest of the
year due to recently announced lockdowns in England, Germany and
France.
Aviva Plc AV.L jumped 2.6% to the top of the FTSE 100
index after German peer Allianz SE ALVG.DE reported an
unexpected rise in quarterly net profit