LONDON — Britain's benchmark FTSE 100 index closed lower Friday, extending its losing streak to a fifth consecutive session, as weakness in mining and pharmaceutical stocks offset an initially positive open driven by cooling U.S. inflation data.

The index closed down 22.56 points, or 0.21%, at 10,750.11. Trading ranged between a session high of 10,789.71 and a low of 10,723.66, following a previous close of 10,772.67. The FTSE 250, which tracks a broader set of mid-cap companies, moved in the opposite direction, ending up 29.71 points, or 0.1%, at 24,867.42, while the AIM All-Share index closed slightly higher at 800.92.

Friday's session began on a stronger note, with London stocks initially set to open around 0.3% higher after Wall Street closed at fresh record highs overnight. That optimism followed a softer-than-expected U.S. inflation reading, which eased concerns about the Federal Reserve pursuing further interest rate increases and helped lift global risk appetite heading into the European trading day. The FTSE 100 briefly climbed as high as 10,846 in early trading before steadily giving back those gains through the rest of the session.

Mining........

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