September 14, 2002	Saturday	Rajab 6, 1423

LONDON, Sept 13: Britain’s FTSE 100 closed above its lows on Friday after an initial sell-off on concerns about the outlook for financials and fresh US corporate setbacks was partly offset by generally benign US economic data.

Telecoms slumped and Vodafone fell 2.4 percent after German telecoms group MobilCom said it would file for insolvency, with the banks hurt by worries over exposure to the debt-ridden sector.

US telecoms firm Lucent and industrial conglomerate Honeywell heaped on more pain with bleak outlooks, although better-than-expected US retail sales and producer prices data softened the blows later in the session.

The FTSE 100 closed 76.9 points or 1.9pc lower at 4,008.0, still down sharply on the day as Wall Street fell, but above a session low of 3,927.8. The index has lost just over 200 points in the past two sessions, making a 100-point fall on the week, its third straight weekly loss.—Reuters