By Sudip Kar-Gupta
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's top share index edged lower on Friday after posting its highest ever close in the previous session, with a pullback in mining stocks weighing on the market.
Bid speculation lifted engineer Weir, however.
The blue-chip FTSE 100 index was 0.1 percent lower at 6,954.37 points going into the middle of the trading session, near its record closing level of 6,961.14 set on Thursday and its intraday record high of 6,974.26 points hit on Monday.
Gold miners Fresnillo (LONDON:FRES) and Randgold fell on the back of a drop in the price of gold, while miners were also impacted as iron ore prices fell towards record lows. [GOL/]
However, Weir Group (LONDON:WEIR) rose 5.5 percent, with traders citing speculation that it may be subject to a bid after a slump in its share price in recent months. Weir Group declined to comment.
Admiral Markets' Darren Sinden expected the FTSE to hit a new record high of 7,000 points, but added that uncertainty ahead of Britain's general election in May and weakness in the mining sector could hinder the FTSE's progress.
"I think we will get through 7,000 points at some point, but the miners are still a bit of a drag on the index," he said.
Traders added that market volumes were expected to remain light before U.S. jobs data due at 1330 GMT.
A Reuters survey of economists forecast a 240,000 increase in non-farm payrolls after a 257,000 gain in January. That would mark the 12th straight month of job increases above 200,000, the longest such run since 1994.