FTSE ends worst week since early Feb

By Dominic Lau

LONDON (Reuters) - The leading stock index slid 1.5 percent on Friday to end its worst week since early February as miners and oil shares weighed, though Cable & Wireless (CW.L) rose on upbeat broker views.

The FTSE 100 .FTSE closed down 94.3 points at 6,087.3, for a weekly loss of 3.4 percent.

The benchmark index is flat for the month, but is down 5.7 percent for the year. The stock market will close on Monday for a holiday.

"The market starts to ask itself how far can any recovery go given the background that we have got," said Keith Bowman, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.

"Minutes from the Fed earlier this week do look to confirm that we have seen the last of the interest rate cuts in the States, and probably in the UK for some months ... This week has also been the story of rising oil prices. Apart from the energy sector, it is pretty much bad news across the board," he said.

Miners shaved 43 points off the index as copper prices eased, with Kazakhmys (KAZ.L) the top loser, down 5.6 percent.

BHP Billiton (BLT.L) shed 4.7 percent and Rio Tinto (RIO.L) fell 5.6 percent after the Wall Street Journal said BHP's proposed acquisition of Rio faces increasing scrutiny from European regulators worried about the impact on steel prices.

BHP was not immediately available for comment.