UPDATE 2-British midcaps post weekly losses on Brexit woes, dour outlook

* AstraZeneca to run new global trial of COVID-19 vaccine -
report
* JD Sports among worst performing bluechips this week
* Drugmaker Indivior underperforms midcaps for the week

(Updates to close)
By Devik Jain and Ambar Warrick
Nov 27 (Reuters) - Domestically-oriented British midcap
stocks rose slightly on Friday, but marked their first weekly
loss this month as frictions in the Brexit process and a gloomy
economic outlook due to the coronavirus weighed on sentiment.
The mid-cap FTSE 250 .FTMC rose 0.3% and lost 0.2% for the
week, while the blue-chip FTSE 100 .FTSE ended the day and the
week a touch higher.
The European Union and Britain said there were still
substantial differences over a Brexit trade deal, with three
main issues of contention - fishing, state aid and how to
resolve any future disputes.
The EU chief negotiator prepared to travel to London in a
last-ditch attempt to avoid a tumultuous divorce, with just five
weeks left until the deadline for UK's exit. "Mask-to-mask talks will be held over the weekend—but this
is not yet the last possible moment for a deal, and a deal can
(by EU tradition) only occur at the last possible moment," Paul
Donovan, chief economist of UBS Global Wealth Management said.
Appetite for locally-focussed stocks was battered through
the week by updates from the finance and health ministers over
the COVID-19 pandemic's economic impact, while doubts over the
efficacy of a leading vaccine candidate also weighed.
A Bloomberg report said AstraZeneca AZN.L was likely to
run an additional global trial to assess the efficacy of its
COVID-19 vaccine using a lower dosage, amid questions over the
results of its late-stage study. Among individual stocks, retailer JD Sports Fashion JD.L
was among the worst performing blue-chip stocks for the week in
the face of strict restrictions on activity even after the end
of a nationwide lockdown.
Drugmaker Indivior INDV.L underperformed its midcap peers
for the week with a 23.9% loss after it was slapped with a 1.07
billion pound ($1.43 billion) claim by its former owner Reckitt
Benckiser RB.L .