UK stocks end week in red as earnings-driven losses weigh

(Reuters) -London stocks fell on Friday, with IAG among the biggest drags, capping a volatile week dominated by a flurry of corporate earnings and the Bank of England's interest rate decision.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 index finished 0.6% lower for the day, recording 0.4% losses for the week.

Similarly, the midcap index lost 0.6% on Friday, culminating in a 1.9% weekly decline.

Travel and leisure stocks declined 3.1%, with IAG tumbling 11.6% and marking its steepest single-day fall since 2021, after the British Airways owner flagged weakness in the U.S. market.

Rightmove shares plunged 12.5% to their lowest since late 2023 as Britain's biggest property portal warned of slower profit growth next year. The broader real estate sector lost 1%.

Heavyweight banks added to the market's woes, shedding 1.2%. HSBC and Barclays fell about 1% each.

On the bright side, ITV jumped 16.6% as the broadcaster said it is in preliminary talks with Comcast-owned pay-TV company Sky over a 1.6 billion pound ($2.15 billion) sale of its television business. 

Earlier this week, the Bank of England kept its main lending rate steady at 4%. The British pound, which had been trading at multi-month lows, gained some ground following the central bank's decision, rising 0.2% on Friday and positioning for modest weekly gains.

However, major brokerages including Morgan Stanley and Citigroup expect the central bank to deliver a rate cut in its December meeting.

Despite the week's setback, the FTSE 100 remains among Europe's top-performing indexes. Global equities ran into turbulence this week as concerns over valuations of technology stocks and dimming chances of a Federal Reserve interest rate cut in December hit sentiment.

Back in the UK, the Times reported that Finance Minister Rachel Reeves has told the country's budget watchdog that a rise in personal taxation is among the "major measures" she is preparing to announce in her November 26 budget.

($1 = 0.7451 pounds)

(Reporting by Utkarsh Tushar Hathi, Shashwat Chauhan and Ragini Mathur in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel, Alexandra Hudson)