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* UK economy to take more than two years to recover - poll
* British economy shrinks in November, first drop since
April
* Petrofac slumps as former exec pleads guilty to bribery
offences
* FTSE 100 down 1%, FTSE 250 falls 0.8%
(Updates to market close; Adds details, comment)
By Devik Jain and Shashank Nayar
Jan 15 (Reuters) - London's FTSE 100 slipped on Friday,
posting its worst weekly performance since October-end, as fresh
lockdowns due to surging COVID-19 cases dampened hopes of a
swift economic recovery, while drugmaker Indivior gained on
higher revenue forecast.
After slumping as much as 1.8% during the afternoon trade,
the blue-chip index .FTSE closed 1% lower, with
growth-sensitive mining .FTNMX1770 , energy .FTNMX0530 and
bank .FTNMX8350 stocks leading the decline.
The domestically focussed mid-cap FTSE 250 index .FTMC
ended 0.8% lower as official data showed the British economy
shrank by 2.6% in November, its first monthly fall since the
first COVID-19 lockdown in April, as new movement restrictions
were imposed, but the drop was much lower than the average
forecast. "It (the data) is better than expected, but what is worrying
for the market is that contraction in November was during the
far more open second lockdown," said Connor Campbell, a
financial analyst at SpreadEx.
"And now the concern is, what is the figure going to be like
for January and first half of February under these far harsher
restrictions."
The UK economy will take more than two years to recover to
its pre-pandemic level, a Reuters poll found, with more than 70
economists saying it would contract 1.4% this
quarter. After rallying more than 6% on optimism around Brexit and
the vaccine roll-out last week, the FTSE 100 fell 2% this week
on concerns that harsher restrictions due to surging infections
might derail prospects of a swift rebound from the
pandemic-driven recession.
Among individual stocks, Aveva Group AVV.L jumped 7% after
the industrial software provider reported an over 26% jump in
third-quarter organic revenue, aided by strong and early
contract renewals. Indivior INDV.L gained 9.8% after raising its annual
revenue forecast.
Oilfield services provider Petrofac PFC.L tumbled 27.5%
after Britain's Serious Fraud Office said a former senior
executive of the company pleaded guilty to three bribery
offences in relation to oil deals in the United Arab Emirates.