London midday: Stocks in the black after retail sales; Smiths Group rallies
London stocks were in the black by midday on Friday following encouraging UK retail sales data, with Smiths Group pacing the advance after well-received interim results.
The FTSE 100 was up 0.7% at 6,723.27 after figures from the Office for National Statistics showed retail sales recovered partly in February following a big fall at the start of the third national lockdown in January.
Retail sales rose 2.1% on the month in February, in line with consensus expectations and compared to an 8.2% slump the month before. Nevertheless, sales were still down 3.7% compared to February last year, before the coronavirus pandemic hit. This compares to a 5.9% slid in January and expectations for a 3.5% decline.
The ONS said non-food stores provided the largest positive contribution to monthly growth, with increases of 16.2% and 16.1% in department stores and household goods stores respectively. Clothing retailers reported the largest fall in sales volumes when compared to last February before the pandemic hit, down 50.4%.
The proportion spent online rose to a record 36.1% in February. This compares with 35.2% in January and 20% in February 2020.
ONS deputy national statistician for Economic Statistics, Jonathan Athow, said: "Despite national restrictions, retail sales partially recovered from the hit they took in January.
"Food and department stores benefitted from essential retail remaining open with budget-end department stores seeing increased sales. Household goods also fared well, with feedback suggesting spending on home improvement and outdoor products boosted sales as consumers prepared for an easing of lockdown restrictions. However, clothing stores continue to struggle with sales down more than half on their pre-pandemic level."
ING economist James Smith said: "Things will improve when shops are allowed to reopen in April, though a greater consumer focus on services and the trend towards online shopping means the headwinds for traditional high-street retailers are building."
In equity markets, miners were on the front foot as metals prices rose, with Glencore, Antofagasta, Rio Tinto and Anglo American all up.
Oil giants Shell and BP gushed higher as oil prices rose amid concerns that a ship blocking the Suez Canal could squeeze crude supplies.
Smiths Group was the top gainer on the FTSE 100 after it increased its interim dividend and said it was confident about meeting expectations for annual results as profit fell in the first half.
Aviva was also up after saying it had sold its Polish unit to Allianz for €2.5bn to focus on its strongest businesses in the UK, Ireland and Canada and cut debt.
Next was boosted by an upgrade to ‘outperform’ from ‘sector perform’ at RBC Capital Markets.
Kaz Minerals rallied after Nova Resources lifted its offer for the company to 850p a share, valuing the copper miner at £4.1bn.
Oxford Instruments surged to the top of the FTSE 250 after it said revenue is expected to be marginally ahead of last year.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 6,723.27 0.73%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 21,448.16 0.80%
techMARK (TASX) 4,207.87 0.93%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Smiths Group (SMIN) 1,553.00p 6.44%
Glencore (GLEN) 278.80p 3.70%
Antofagasta (ANTO) 1,679.00p 3.58%
Evraz (EVR) 552.00p 3.37%
Rio Tinto (RIO) 5,524.00p 3.27%
Anglo American (AAL) 2,812.00p 3.15%
BHP Group (BHP) 2,076.50p 2.64%
BP (BP.) 300.90p 2.45%
Aveva Group (AVV) 3,417.00p 2.43%
Melrose Industries (MRO) 167.55p 2.10%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
Polymetal International (POLY) 1,400.50p -1.75%
National Grid (NG.) 860.00p -1.49%
Burberry Group (BRBY) 1,874.50p -1.45%
United Utilities Group (UU.) 904.00p -1.16%
Severn Trent (SVT) 2,290.00p -0.99%
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 1,107.00p -0.81%
Unilever (ULVR) 4,030.00p -0.74%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 179.30p -0.69%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 6,368.00p -0.69%
Imperial Brands (IMB) 1,483.50p -0.67%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Oxford Instruments (OXIG) 2,075.00p 15.79%
Cineworld Group (CINE) 103.10p 8.53%
Wood Group (John) (WG.) 282.40p 5.14%
Ferrexpo (FXPO) 365.40p 4.16%
Babcock International Group (BAB) 244.70p 3.73%
FirstGroup (FGP) 91.00p 3.41%
Pets at Home Group (PETS) 399.20p 3.37%
Aston Martin Lagonda Global Holdings (AML) 1,946.00p 3.07%
CMC Markets (CMCX) 470.50p 2.95%
Kaz Minerals (KAZ) 864.00p 2.86%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
Chrysalis Investments Limited NPV (CHRY) 198.50p -2.70%
Provident Financial (PFG) 210.20p -2.23%
Chemring Group (CHG) 265.00p -1.67%
Pennon Group (PNN) 976.20p -1.19%
Vietnam Enterprise Investments (DI) (VEIL) 596.00p -1.16%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 200.20p -0.89%
John Laing Group (JLG) 310.60p -0.83%
Indivior (INDV) 125.20p -0.63%
Bytes Technology Group (BYIT) 413.20p -0.63%
Oxford Biomedica (OXB) 957.00p -0.62%