London open: Stocks dip as investors mull retail sales, consumer confidence

London stocks dipped in early trade on Friday as investors mulled disappointing retail sales data and a gloomy consumer confidence survey.

At 0845 GMT, the FTSE 100 was down 0.2% at 7,453.25.

Figures released earlier by the Office for National Statistics showed that retail sales unexpectedly fell in February, with online shopping falling back below pre-pandemic levels and storms keeping shoppers away.

Retail sales declined by 0.3% following a 1.9% jump in January, missing expectations for a 0.6% increase. This left sales 3.7% above pre-pandemic level in February 2020.

Heather Bovill, ONS deputy director for surveys and economic indicators, said: "After a buoyant January, retail sales fell back a little last month.

"There was a notable decline for companies that predominantly trade online, following a strong performance over the festive and new year period."

Meanwhile, the latest survey from GfK showed that consumer sentiment plunged again in March as fears about the soaring cost of living intensified.

The overall score in GfK's consumer confidence index dropped to -31 from -26 a month earlier as all five component measures fell. The overall figure was the lowest since November 2020 when Covid-19 levels were rising rapidly with no vaccine.

The biggest decline was in households' willingness to make a major purchase, which plunged to -24 from -15, followed by the outlook for the economy over the next year, which dropped to -49 from -43. People's view of their personal financial situation also deteriorated.

More broadly, the Ukraine conflict continued to weigh on investors’ minds following the start of an EU summit in Brussels on Thursday. Richard Hunter, head of markets at Interactive Investor, said the meeting of Western leaders had provided further focus on the next steps.

"These could include further military aid to Ukraine and additional sanctions on Russia, the latter of which has put further upward pressure on prices ranging from metals to energy and food," he said.

"The oil price dipped temporarily on the possibility of more supply, but remains ahead by 52% in the year to date as the demand supply imbalance remains in plain sight."

In equity markets, diversified engineer Smiths Group fell as it reported a rise in interim profit but said it expected a more challenging aviation market in an uncertain geopolitical and macroeconomic environment.

Airtel Africa tumbled after Singapore Telecom sold 60m shares in the company in a placing. The shares - which represent a stake of around 1.6% - were placed at 140p each, raising gross proceeds of £84m.

Gold miner Petropavlovsk, which has operations in Russia, slid after being blocked from making gold sales or interest payments to its main lender, Gazprombank.

B&M European Value Retail was under the cosh after a downgrade to ‘neutral’ at Credit Suisse.

On the upside, Next was boosted by an upgraded to ‘buy’ at SocGen, having fallen sharply a day earlier after it cut guidance.

Meanwhile, Drax was the standout gainer on the FTSE 250 after an upgrade to ‘overweight’ at Morgan Stanley.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,453.25 -0.19%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 20,900.48 0.03%
techMARK (TASX) 4,323.06 -0.17%

FTSE 100 - Risers

Coca-Cola HBC AG (CDI) (CCH) 1,617.00p 1.35%
Anglo American (AAL) 3,993.50p 1.33%
Next (NXT) 6,258.00p 1.33%
Diageo (DGE) 3,796.50p 1.31%
Rentokil Initial (RTO) 521.60p 1.28%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 5,922.00p 1.11%
Glencore (GLEN) 505.60p 1.06%
British Land Company (BLND) 518.00p 0.97%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 1,627.50p 0.65%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 1,070.00p 0.42%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Airtel Africa (AAF) 140.00p -9.97%
B&M European Value Retail S.A. (DI) (BME) 559.20p -3.69%
Ocado Group (OCDO) 1,077.00p -2.36%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 515.00p -2.02%
Persimmon (PSN) 2,152.00p -1.82%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 134.85p -1.82%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,750.00p -1.77%
Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,495.00p -1.52%
BP (BP.) 383.65p -1.43%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RKT) 5,563.00p -1.28%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Drax Group (DRX) 734.00p 3.38%
Polymetal International (POLY) 171.30p 3.19%
Energean (ENOG) 1,213.00p 2.97%
QinetiQ Group (QQ.) 312.60p 2.90%
National Express Group (NEX) 232.60p 2.65%
Contour Global (GLO) 197.20p 2.18%
Homeserve (HSV) 822.00p 1.92%
Volution Group (FAN) 411.00p 1.86%
Smithson Investment Trust (SSON) 1,604.00p 1.65%
Babcock International Group (BAB) 344.70p 1.62%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Syncona Limited NPV (SYNC) 163.20p -3.43%
Baltic Classifieds Group (BCG) 132.00p -2.22%
Bellway (BWY) 2,670.00p -2.13%
Coats Group (COA) 79.70p -2.09%
Vistry Group (VTY) 964.00p -1.97%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 130.00p -1.89%
HGCapital Trust (HGT) 421.00p -1.75%
Fidelity China Special Situations (FCSS) 255.50p -1.73%
Bridgepoint Group (Reg S) (BPT) 312.50p -1.73%
Crest Nicholson Holdings (CRST) 278.80p -1.69%