FTSE 100: Large-caps' gains tempered by Spanish downgrade Standard & Poor's cut its credit rating on Spain by two notches to BBB-plus on Thursday night and put it on negative outlook, citing expectations that government finances will deteriorate even more than previously thought as a result of a contracting economy and an ailing banking sector. That tempered any gains on London's index of leading shares, with investors also braced for an Intalian debt auction on Friday. The country is set to offer up to €6.25bn in bonds, with borrowing costs expected to climb above 5.5pc for the benchmark 10-year bond. The FTSE 100 edged up 5 points to 5753 while the FTSE 250 put on 12 points to 11,373. Investors will also be keeping an eye on America's economic growth data, which is due to be published at 1.30pm. "US growth is expected to slow in the first quarter to 2.5pc from 3pc in the prior quarter," said Joshua Raymond, chief market strategist at City Index. Whilst any number below 2.5pc growth will likely raise concerns over US growth this year, these concerns could be watered down by the fact that weaker than expected US growth would likely be interpreted by investors as increasing pressure on the Federal Reserve into supportive action in the form of more quantitaive. Man Group led the winners on Friday morning, with the hedge fund manager jumping 3.5pc after Societe Generale turned buyers. Money managers, Aberdeen Asset Management and Schroders, added 1.1pc and 1pc respectively. But weakness from some defensives as well as a smattering of miners weighed on the benchmark index. Drug makers Shire and AstraZeneca eased 1pc and 0.5pc respectively. Randgold Resources, the precious metal miner, dropped 0.6pc. Its peer, Fresnillo, lost 0.4pc. Amongst the second-liners, CSR jumped almost 9pc as takeover speculation continued to swirl around the chip maker, with suggestions it could be in line for a £600m bid aproach.