FTSE 100 Today: British Land Rally Masks AB Foods Slide as UK Stocks Edge Up

Stocks Near Peaks: Global markets hovered around record highs. On Wall Street, the Dow Jones Industrial Average hit an intra-day record before inching up 0.08% by Friday’s close reuters.com. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite, however, dipped 0.3% and 0.4% respectively as tech and financial shares pulled back reuters.com. Still, one strategist noted the rally’s resilience: “This market continues to move higher and the story is just earnings and margins”, with strong U.S. corporate profits buoying sentiment reuters.com. U.S. retail sales data showed consumers remain resilient even after a hotter-than-expected producer price spike, which briefly rekindled inflation worries reuters.com. In Europe, the pan-European STOXX 600 index touched a five-month high before ending flat on the week, supported by a “largely positive earnings season” across the continent reuters.com. The MSCI All-Country World Index also held near record territory reuters.com.