Published July 4, 2026 Updated about 6 hours ago By Reuters FRANKFURT: Britain’s FTSE 100 ended higher on Friday and notched a weekly gain, supported by financials, while higher gold prices lifted precious metals miners. The blue-chip FTSE 100 index closed up 0.2percent at 10,679.03 points, while the midcap FTSE 250 climbed 0.5percent. The financials sector gained ground, led by Close Brothers Group, up 7.9percent, while Lion Finance Group and Standard Chartered advanced 2.8percent and 1.5percent respectively. Precious metals miners gained 1.4percent, tracking higher gold prices after weak US jobs data reduced expectations of a near-term Federal Reserve rate hike. Chemicals led sectoral gains, advancing 2.5percent, with Johnson Matthey up 4.9percent after the firm received Chinese regulatory approval for the divestment of its Catalyst Technologies business to Honeywell. It said it…