(Sharecast News) - London stocks edged lower in early trade on Friday as investors mulled the latest retail sales and public debt figures amid a dearth of corporate news, ahead of the release of flash manufacturing and services PMIs for August.
At 0850 BST, the FTSE 100 was down 0.3% at 5,997.10.

Figures released earlier by the Office for National Statistics showed retail sales rose above pre-pandemic levels in July. Sales were up 3.6% on the month, down from a 13.9% surge in June and a 12% increase in May but coming in ahead of expectations for a 2% increase. The ONS said sales are now 3% above pre-pandemic levels in February.

On the year, retail sales rose 1.4% in July following a 1.6% decline in June, versus expectations for a flat reading.

ONS deputy national statistician for Economic Statistics, Jonathan Athow, said: "Retail sales have now regained all the ground lost during the height of the coronavirus restrictions as more stores open for trade and online sales remain at historically high levels.

"While still below their pre-pandemic levels, both fuel and clothing sales continued to recover. Meanwhile, food sales fell back from their recent peaks as people started to venture back into pubs and restaurants."

Separate data from the ONS showed government debt exceeded £2trn in July for the first time as spending rose due to the pandemic.

Debt at the end of July stood at £2.004bn, up £227.6bn compared to the same month last year. This debt represents 100.5% of gross domestic product, an increase of 20.4 percentage points compared with this time last year and the first time it has been above 100% since 1961.

Borrowing in July was £26.7bn, up £28.3bn on the year and the fourth highest borrowing in any month since records began in 1993.

Borrowing in April to July was £150.5bn, up £128.4bn compared to the same period last year and marking the highest borrowing in any April to July period on record. The figure is close to the deficit for the whole of 2009/10 of £158.3bn, which was previously the largest cash deficit in history. Capital Economics economist Ruth Gregory said this reflects "the extraordinary fiscal support the government has put in place to see the economy through the crisis".

Investors were eyeing the release of flash services and manufacturing PMIs for August, due at 0930 BST.

Spreadex analyst Connor Campbell said what the FTSE does for the rest of the session is potentially going to be dictated by the PMIs.

"The manufacturing reading is expected to climb from 53.3 to 54.0, while serves is forecast to rise from 56.5 to 57.0. If the eurozone's figures are anything to go by, however, UK investors may be disappointed."

Corporate news was scarce, but AstraZeneca was trading a little lower despite saying that Imfinzi has been approved in Japan for the treatment of patients with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer (ES-SCLC), in combination with etoposide plus a choice of platinum chemotherapy.

Shopping centre owner Hammerson was also in the red as RBC Capital Markets cut its price target on the stock.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 5,997.10 -0.27%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 17,519.24 0.13%
techMARK (TASX) 3,781.32 -0.29%

FTSE 100 - Risers

GVC Holdings (GVC) 769.00p 2.75%
Taylor Wimpey (TW.) 122.00p 1.71%
Avast (AVST) 540.00p 1.41%
Rolls-Royce Holdings (RR.) 258.40p 0.94%
Whitbread (WTB) 2,349.00p 0.73%
Legal & General Group (LGEN) 224.30p 0.67%
Glencore (GLEN) 169.74p 0.57%
Persimmon (PSN) 2,706.00p 0.56%
Barratt Developments (BDEV) 524.20p 0.50%
RSA Insurance Group (RSA) 444.80p 0.50%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Smith & Nephew (SN.) 1,504.00p -1.31%
DCC (DCC) 6,678.00p -1.30%
London Stock Exchange Group (LSE) 8,726.00p -1.24%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 2,357.00p -1.17%
Hargreaves Lansdown (HL.) 1,690.00p -1.17%
Pearson (PSON) 573.80p -1.14%
BT Group (BT.A) 101.95p -1.12%
Unilever (ULVR) 4,491.00p -1.10%
Schroders (SDR) 2,898.00p -1.09%
Reckitt Benckiser Group (RB.) 7,480.00p -0.93%

FTSE 250 - Risers

HGCapital Trust (HGT) 264.00p 5.39%
PPHE Hotel Group Ltd (PPH) 1,105.00p 4.25%
Marshalls (MSLH) 661.50p 2.96%
Rathbone Brothers (RAT) 1,738.00p 2.48%
Trainline (TRN) 372.00p 2.03%
Liontrust Asset Management (LIO) 1,295.00p 1.97%
Cineworld Group (CINE) 49.61p 1.81%
Polypipe Group (PLP) 403.00p 1.77%
Impax Environmental Markets (IEM) 354.00p 1.72%
Capita (CPI) 30.66p 1.69%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Hammerson (HMSO) 47.87p -3.76%
Petrofac Ltd. (PFC) 170.35p -2.71%
TBC Bank Group (TBCG) 854.00p -2.40%
Contour Global (GLO) 204.00p -2.16%
PZ Cussons (PZC) 203.50p -1.93%
FDM Group (Holdings) (FDM) 973.00p -1.82%
Future (FUTR) 1,434.00p -1.78%
Rank Group (RNK) 132.40p -1.78%
Fisher (James) & Sons (FSJ) 1,170.00p -1.68%
Hill & Smith Holdings (HILS) 1,264.00p -1.56%