28 Mar, 2025 08:40 28 Mar, 2025 08:57

London open: Stocks steady as investors mull retail sales, GDP

dl city of london square mile financial district generic 12 — Sharecast / Daniel Frese via Pexels

London stocks were little changed in early trade on Friday as investors mulled the latest UK GDP and retail sales figures, and continued to assess the impact of Trump’s auto tariffs.

At 0830 GMT, the FTSE 100 was steady at 8,664.48.

Kathleen Brooks, research director at XTB, said: "It will be an interesting session for financial markets today. Donald Trump’s reciprocal tariffs are once again dominating markets. Canada and the EU are preparing a raft of retaliatory measures, while the UK hopes not to be the tall poppy and aims to use diplomatic measures to deflect tariff threats.

"Investors are seeking solace in the gold price, which is above $3,080 at the time of writing, and is higher by another $27 per ounce on Friday. Gold and silver are outperforming stocks this week and the precious metals are higher by 2% and 4% so far this week."

Looking ahead to the rest of the day, investors will be turning their attention to the release of the Federal Reserve's preferred measure of inflation, the personal consumption expenditures index, which is due for release at 1230 GMT.

Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, said the market is expecting a 2.5% year-on-year rise for February, equalling the January number, and 0.3% for the month.

On home shores, data from the Office for National Statistics showed the economy grew more strongly than initially thought last year,

The ONS revised its estimate for real annual GDP in 2024 to 1.1% from 0.9%.

Leading the annual improvement were upward revisions of 0.1 percentage points in the first and second quarters of 2024.

Growth in the second half was largely left unchanged, however.

In the third quarter there was none, and the ONS confirmed an 0.1% uptick in the final three months, although year-on-year, fourth quarter real GDP was revised up to 1.5% from 1.4%

The ONS said that of the periods open to review, growth was unrevised in five of the eight quarters compared with the first estimate.

The ONS’s early estimates are regularly reviewed, as it receives updated or revised source data.

Separate figures from the ONS revealed that retail sales volumes rose by 1% in February.

That was down on January’s revised 1.4% increase, but well ahead of consensus expectations of a 0.3% fall. Sales volumes were also at their highest since July 2022.

Driving the growth were non-food sales, which grew "strongly", the ONS said, and helped offset softer supermarket volumes.

Non-food stores, which include department, clothing and household retailers, rose by 3.1%. Jewellers reported strong demand for gold, in light of mounting geopolitical uncertainty, while household stores saw a 6.8% spike, the largest monthly rise since April 2021.

In contrast, food stores sales volumes fell 2% on the month, following a bumper 4.8% rise in January.

Year-on-year, overall retail sales volumes were 2.2% stronger.

In the three months to February, sales volumes rose 0.3% or by 2% year-on-year.

The ONS revised January’s figure down to 1.4% from its initial estimate of 1.7% growth.

In equity markets, utilities, which are defensive stocks, were the standout gainers on the FTSE 100, with SSE, National Grid, United Utilities and Severn Trent all up.

SSE was also in focus after saying it has promoted its chief commercial officer Martin Pibworth to the CEO position, replacing current boss Alistair Phillips-Davies who will formally leave the company this summer.

WH Smith edged lower after selling its UK High Street business to Modella Capital for an enterprise value of £76m on a cash and debt-free basis.

The retailer, which will now focus on its travel outlets, said it expected net cash proceeds of around £25m when adjusted for transaction and separation costs, which would be spent in line with its capital allocation policy.

It added that the deal did not include the funkypigeon.com personalised online greeting card business where strategic options were now being considered, including a possible sale.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX)8,664.48-0.02%
FTSE 250 (MCX)19,935.620.11%
techMARK (TASX)4,650.800.10%

FTSE 100 - Risers

SSE (SSE)1,578.00p2.04%
National Grid (NG.)999.60p1.85%
United Utilities Group (UU.)992.20p1.56%
Marks & Spencer Group (MKS)353.00p1.35%
Severn Trent (SVT)2,467.00p1.19%
Kingfisher (KGF)251.00p1.17%
AstraZeneca (AZN)11,324.00p1.14%
BT Group (BT.A)164.65p1.14%
Sainsbury (J) (SBRY)239.60p1.10%
Vodafone Group (VOD)72.90p0.91%