March 27 (Reuters) - The UK's FTSE 100 edged lower on

Friday as uncertainty around de-escalation of the Middle East

conflict persisted, though the index clung to slim weekly gains.

U.S. President Donald Trump extended his deadline to 8 p.m.

ET on April 6 (0000 GMT on April 7) for Iran to reopen the

Strait of Hormuz or face the destruction of its energy

facilities, after Tehran rejected Washington's 15-point proposal

to end the war.

The blue-chip FTSE 100 index closed 0.05% down,

while the midcap FTSE 250 fell 1.5% and logged a weekly

loss of over 1.7%. However, both indexes were on track for steep

monthly losses.

* Most sub-sectors traded in the red, except healthcare

that rose 2%. Positive late-stage trial results

for AstraZeneca's ( AZN ) experimental respiratory treatment

sent the drugmaker's shares up 3.4%.

* Precious metal miners also boosted the

benchmark index as gold jumped over 3% on dip-buying after a

pullback earlier this week.

* Britain's government and the Bank of England say it is too

soon to judge the economic hit from the Iran war, but the first

strains are appearing and are likely to ring alarm bells for

policymakers whose response options are more limited than in

past crises.

* Official data showed retail sales fell in February after

logging the strongest growth in a year and a half in January.

* British consumer sentiment fell to its lowest level in

nearly a year in March, a closely watched monthly survey showed,

as concerns over the economic fallout from the Iran war and the

prospect of sharp price rises kept households on edge.

* Lloyds Banking Group ( LYG ) fell 2% after Britain's

Treasury Committee said an IT glitch earlier this month exposed

personal data of nearly half a million bank customers.

* Metlen fell 8.6% to the bottom of the benchmark

index after the Greek energy group delayed its FY25 results.