London open: Stocks edge up after retail sales

London stocks edged higher in early trade on Friday despite weaker opening calls, as investors digested better-than-expected UK retail sales data.

At 0850 GMT, the FTSE 100 was up 0.3% at 7,279.76.

Figures released earlier by the Office for National Statistics showed retail sales unexpectedly jumped in November, boosted by strong demand for clothing and a bumper Black Friday.

Retail sales volumes rose by 1.4% in November, following growth of 1.1% in October, which was revised up from 0.8%. The November increase was above consensus, with most analysts looking for growth closer to 0.8%.

Year-on-year sales growth strengthened to 4.7%, compared to a 1.5% decline in October, also above consensus, for 4.2%.

Retail sales are now 7.2% higher than February 2020 levels.

Driving the improvement was stronger clothing sales, which rose 2.9% and beat pre-Covid levels for the first time; volumes were 3.2% higher than their February 2020 level.

Overall, non-food sales volumes, which include computer, toy and jewellery stores, rose by 2.0%, with retailers noting strong Black Friday trading. Food store sales volumes fell 0.2% in November, although they remain 3.2% above February 2020 levels.

Consumers also continued to return to shopping in-store, with the proportion of retail sales online falling to 26.9%, the lowest proportion since the first lockdown in March 2020.

Helen Dickinson, chief executive of the British Retail Consortium, said: "It is clear that plenty of customers used the Black Friday sales as an opportunity to snap up bargains ahead of Christmas.

"While traditional sales in TV and other electronics could be found, there has been a clear expansion in clothing and footwear in Black Friday discounts, boosting sales growth in these areas. This was bolstered by the cold weather during November."

In equity markets, Johnson Matthey gained after saying it had sold its health business to Altaris Capital Partners for £325m.

Qinetiq was sitting pretty at the top of the FTSE 250 after an upgrade to ‘buy’ at Citi.

On the downside, HSBC was just a touch lower after the Financial Conduct Authority fined the bank £64m for anti-money laundering failings.

Wood Group fell after a downgrade to ‘equalweight’ at Morgan Stanley.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,279.76 0.26%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 22,675.62 0.12%
techMARK (TASX) 4,437.13 0.41%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Rentokil Initial (RTO) 543.80p 2.99%
Fresnillo (FRES) 909.80p 2.16%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,750.50p 2.04%
BT Group (BT.A) 169.65p 2.01%
DCC (CDI) (DCC) 6,120.00p 1.80%
Informa (INF) 494.20p 1.69%
British American Tobacco (BATS) 2,732.00p 1.58%
Persimmon (PSN) 2,772.00p 1.54%
B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 625.80p 1.52%
Polymetal International (POLY) 1,295.00p 1.49%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 1,342.00p -1.32%
Darktrace (DARK) 406.00p -1.22%
Royal Dutch Shell 'A' (RDSA) 1,608.60p -1.13%
Royal Dutch Shell 'B' (RDSB) 1,609.40p -1.09%
BP (BP.) 335.75p -0.94%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,884.00p -0.62%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 1,085.00p -0.46%
Relx plc (REL) 2,364.00p -0.38%
HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 446.70p -0.35%
Diageo (DGE) 3,945.00p -0.29%

FTSE 250 - Risers

QinetiQ Group (QQ.) 256.80p 4.82%
Ninety One (N91) 267.00p 3.41%
Cineworld Group (CINE) 31.95p 2.63%
Mediclinic International (MDC) 311.40p 2.50%
Hammerson (HMSO) 32.51p 2.30%
Petropavlovsk (POG) 21.18p 2.12%
Plus500 Ltd (DI) (PLUS) 1,316.50p 2.09%
easyJet (EZJ) 504.80p 1.88%
AO World (AO.) 91.65p 1.83%
Coats Group (COA) 68.00p 1.80%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Wood Group (John) (WG.) 178.80p -4.39%
Trustpilot Group (TRST) 332.80p -2.69%
Allianz Technology Trust (ATT) 338.50p -1.88%
Baillie Gifford US Growth Trust (USA) 316.00p -1.71%
JTC (JTC) 875.00p -1.69%
Edinburgh Worldwide Inv Trust (EWI) 293.00p -1.35%
Moonpig Group (MOON) 366.20p -1.29%
Chrysalis Investments Limited NPV (CHRY) 230.00p -1.29%
Polar Capital Technology Trust (PCT) 2,618.00p -1.28%
Weir Group (WEIR) 1,669.00p -1.27%