Stocks in London continued to outperform their European peers at midday Friday, with better-than-expected UK retail sales in February providing some good news, ahead of US personal consumption expenditures data.
The FTSE 100 index was up 12.88 points, 0.2%, at 8,679.00. The FTSE 250 was up 9.42 points at 19,924.12, and the AIM All-Share was up 1.41 points, 0.2%, at 698.17.
The Cboe UK 100 was up 0.2% at 866.35, the Cboe UK 250 was broadly flat at 17,423.63, and the Cboe Small Companies was 0.3% higher at 15,439.25.
‘A jump in retail sales in February and confirmation the UK economy managed to grow in the final quarter of 2024 were treated as small wins by the market. While not earth-shattering data, investors are taking any nuggets of good news they can get in the current fragile environment,’ commented AJ Bell analyst Russ Mould.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer has refused to be ‘dragged’ into a row over fishing rights amid reports the UK may have to sacrifice them for the EU to join a military pact.
A senior European politician told the Politico website that member countries may try to block a defence and security deal unless issues such as foreign vessels accessing UK waters are resolved.
The UK is not part of the EU’s Common Fisheries Policy and has the right to manage the resources in its waters. Non-UK vessels are not permitted to fish in UK waters unless they have the appropriate licence from the UK Single Issuing Authority, SIA.
In European equities on Friday, the CAC 40 in Paris was down 0.7%, while the DAX 40 in Frankfurt was also 0.7% lower.
Retailers in Germany were a tad more confident in March, according to the latest ifo survey result published on Friday.
The ifo business climate in Germany’s retail sector increased to minus 22.6 in March from minus 23.8 in February. Retailers’ business expectations for the coming months improved slightly, but remain mostly pessimistic.
Also on Friday, data from the Federal Employment Agency showed Germany’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate unexpectedly increased a notch in March.
The country’s seasonally adjusted unemployment rate stood at 6.3% in March, up from 6.2% in February. The FXStreet-cited consensus had expected no change from February.
‘European markets are on the back foot in early trade once again, with tariff fears driving risk assets lower globally. The losses seen throughout Asia and Europe highlight the growing fears as auto tariffs are set to be accompanied by retaliatory measures on the so-called ’Liberation Day’ next week. The sharp declines seen for the likes of GM and Ford highlight the fact that even the companies Trump seeks to benefit from his measures will be hit by higher costs that will dent profits over the coming years,’ said Scope Market analyst Joshua Mahony.
‘With Trump’s efforts to rip up trade relationships with ’friend and foe’, there has been a continued push towards gold as a haven asset over US treasuries. That notably showed up within the UK retail sales report, with consumers flocking to the precious metal in a bid to shield themselves from the volatility evident within global markets.
‘The better-than-expected UK retail sales report provided some good news in the wake of a spring statement that saw the [Office for Budget Responsibility] slash their 2025 growth prediction in half from 2% to 1%. Nonetheless, with the ONS upgrading three of the past five quarters of growth and retail sales coming in above estimates, we are seeing support for the pound this morning.’
Figures from the UK Office for National Statistics on Friday showed retail sales volumes rose by 1.0% in February from January, well ahead of an FXStreet-cited consensus for a 0.3% fall. In January, retail sales had risen 1.4%, which had been downwardly revised from 1.7%.
On an annual basis, retail sales volumes in February rose 2.2%, accelerating from a 1.0% rise in the year to January.
‘This suggests that the UK economy may ’bounce’ back after a weak start to the year, and it comes after the better-than-expected services sector PMI for March,’ XTB analyst Kathleen Brooks said.
‘The media is focused on the UK’s fiscal woes, but today’s retail sales suggest that growth might be better than expected, which would be a major lifeline to the chancellor,’ she suggested.
The pound was quoted at $1.2929 at midday on Friday in London, down from $1.2960 at the equities close on Thursday. The euro stood lower at $1.0768, against $1.0797.
Against the yen, the dollar was trading lower at JP¥150.83 compared to JP¥151.05.
Stocks in New York were called lower. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was called down 0.1%, the S&P 500 index down 0.2%, and the Nasdaq Composite down 0.3%.
NCC Group led the FTSE 250 risers on Friday, up 2.7%.
The cybersecurity company has completed the disposal of its Fox Crypto business for a total of €78.5 million. The business had been part of its European Cyber division in the Netherlands.
Proceeds from the sale will be used to repay NCC’s revolving credit facility borrowings, reduce net debt and ‘facilitate growth’ in its Cyber Security arm.
Europa Metals gained 9.1% on Friday.
The Europe-focused lead-zinc and silver developer swung to pretax profit of $4.8 million during the six months to December 31, from a loss of $248,761 a year prior.
Income rose to $5.6 million from $277,071, and the firm recorded no exploration expenditure against $9,315 the year before.
Forestry management firm Woodbois sank 13%.
It raised £2.7 million before expenses via a subscription for 5.31 billion new shares at 0.05 pence each. The subscription was made available to some UK brokers and Swiss asset manager Triaxis, but was not available to the public. Woodbois also granted subscription share option agreements to raise an additional £650,000.
It named Non-Executive Director Clive Roberts as interim chair with immediate effect, and called an extraordinary general meeting for April 22 to approve the fundraising. Woodbois’ annual general meeting will be held on April 30.
Brent oil was quoted lower at $73.21 a barrel at midday in London on Friday from $73.83 late Thursday.
Gold was quoted up at $3,078.66 an ounce against $3,051.11. It reached a record high of $3,086.04 on Friday morning.
Still to come on Friday’s economic calendar, US personal consumption expenditures data at 1230 GMT.
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