By Shubham Batra and Shashwat Chauhan
(Reuters) -UK's FTSE 100 ended slightly higher on Friday as rising energy stocks helped counter broader market weakness, although along with the FTSE 250 it clocked a weekly loss.
The benchmark FTSE 100 closed up 0.1%, while the midcap index was down 0.1%. Both indexes logged weekly falls, of 0.2% and 0.5%, respectively.
The personal goods and real estate investment trusts sectors were the worst hit this week, while non-life insurers was best performing.
On Friday, the automobiles and parts and retailers led gains amongst the major FTSE 350 sectors, while personal goods and non-life insurers were amongst the biggest fallers.
Keeping a lid on losses, heavyweight energy stocks added 0.4%.
Trading activity was light as U.S. markets re-opened after Thanksgiving for a truncated "Black Friday" trading session.
"The Thanksgiving break in the U.S. means volumes are thin on the ground, and at the same time, there isn't a great deal of corporate or economic news to sway the index," said Sophie Lund-Yates, lead equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown (LON:HRGV).
Meanwhile, market research firm GfK late on Thursday said British consumers have turned more optimistic about their outlook for the economy and their personal finances this month, but their mood remained a long way off pre-COVID levels.
"The slowing down of inflation and growing hope for a kinder interest rate environment are likely all contributing to the improvement," added Hargreaves Lansdown's Yates.
Among individual stocks, Barclays (LON:BARC) climbed 1.0% after Reuters reported late on Thursday the British bank is working on plans to save as much as 1 billion pounds ($1.25 billion), which could involve cutting as many as 2,000 jobs.
Sage Group (LON:SGE) dropped 2.3% after gaining more than 12% this week. The software company's shares had hit a record high earlier this week after strong results.