London close: FTSE gains on clothing retailers after improved UK shop-sales data

"The FTSE has bounced back following a dour week so far. However, with a decision to be made on (US President Donald) Trump's medical plans, uncertainty remains," said IG's Joshua Mahony.

At the close of trade the FTSE 100 was up 0.22% to 7,340.71, and the FTSE 250 was 0.90% higher at 19,002.27. Stocks indices in Europe and on Wall St also advanced.

Earlier on Thursday, official data revealed UK retail sales excluding auto fuel bounced back 1.3% in February, after January's revised 0.3% fall and well above views for a 0.3% rise.

"A rebound in UK retail sales in February coupled with a mix of broker upgrades and downgrades saw diverging fortunes amongst supermarkets," said Jasper Lawler of London Capital Group.

Supermarket giant Tesco was lifted by upgrade to 'buy' at Deutsche Bank, but rival Sainsbury fell after analysts cut the stock to 'hold'.

Lawler also observed clothing retailers led gains on the FTSE 100 after investors took solace in un-revised forecasts from Next, which reported its first annual profit drop in 8 years.

Next's underlying pre-tax profits fell 3.8% to £790.2m last year, as it warned 2017 would be "another tough year" due to a shift away from spending on clothing and a squeeze on UK wages.

Marks & Spencer also gained, as did Primark-owner Associated British Foods and then Burberry.

Mahony continued that the UK retail surprise also sparked another surge in the Brexit-weakened pound, with consumers bouncing back despite clear impending headwinds for the economy.

"However, coming off the back of two negative readings, it is clear that consumers are struggling with the new norm of higher priced goods thanks to rising prices on imported goods," he said.

Turning to resources, gold was pricing a snip higher with risk aversion in the market potentially able to lift the nil-yielding precious metal higher in the short term.

Three-month industrial metals on London Metals Exchange were mostly firmer. None of this helped miners, which were mostly down but unable to offset a mob-handed number of blue-chip stocks improving.

Randgold Resources, Fresnillo, Glencore and Rio Tinto led the list of those being sold lower.

Oil majors were mixed with BP managing modest gains as Shell posted modest falls. Crude oil prices remained depressed on global-glut concerns and recent rises in US inventories.

Turning to the US, Lawler commented that a lot of emphasis was being placed on the vote in the US Congress on the new Republican healthcare bill, as referred to higher up.

"At the moment the bill appears to hanging in the balance as conservatives bicker with themselves as to whether the 'replacement' does enough 'repealing'.

"Whether the bill passes or fails on the first attempt, stocks have likely entered a correction phase anyway."

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,340.71 0.22%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 19,002.27 0.90%
techMARK (TASX) 3,465.96 1.05%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Next (NXT) 4,196.00p 8.01%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS) 337.30p 3.82%
TUI AG Reg Shs (DI) (TUI) 1,123.00p 2.74%
Ashtead Group (AHT) 1,649.00p 2.55%
easyJet (EZJ) 1,008.00p 2.34%
Royal Mail (RMG) 418.00p 2.33%
Sage Group (SGE) 629.50p 2.27%
AstraZeneca (AZN) 4,959.50p 2.21%
Royal Bank of Scotland Group (RBS) 240.00p 2.13%
Micro Focus International (MCRO) 2,194.00p 2.05%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Randgold Resources Ltd. (RRS) 7,095.00p -2.74%
Glencore (GLEN) 321.65p -2.40%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 2,026.00p -2.22%
Fresnillo (FRES) 1,537.00p -2.04%
Pearson (PSON) 635.00p -1.63%
Kingfisher (KGF) 322.70p -1.62%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 3,266.50p -1.30%
BHP Billiton (BLT) 1,255.00p -1.30%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 7,334.00p -1.29%
Smurfit Kappa Group (SKG) 2,155.00p -0.92%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Halma (HLMA) 1,022.00p 6.51%
Savills (SVS) 924.00p 5.42%
GVC Holdings (GVC) 746.00p 5.37%
Marshalls (MSLH) 367.40p 4.97%
Grafton Group Units (GFTU) 685.00p 4.74%
Softcat (SCT) 385.00p 4.53%
Amec Foster Wheeler (AMFW) 526.00p 4.16%
Dixons Carphone (DC.) 314.80p 4.07%
Thomas Cook Group (TCG) 89.40p 3.89%
IWG (IWG) 309.10p 3.62%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Ted Baker (TED) 2,666.00p -6.13%
IG Group Holdings (IGG) 498.00p -4.96%
Allied Minds (ALM) 332.10p -4.43%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 474.00p -4.24%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 273.10p -3.94%
Bovis Homes Group (BVS) 884.50p -3.23%
Acacia Mining (ACA) 463.10p -3.08%
Nostrum Oil & Gas (NOG) 408.10p -2.83%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 167.70p -2.50%
Galliford Try (GFRD) 1,542.00p -2.22%