(Sharecast News) - London stocks were steady in early trade on Friday as investors digested disappointing retail sales data.
At 0835 BST, the FTSE 100 was flat at 7,150.26, while sterling was down 0.4% at $1.3866 amid continued dollar strength and after figures from the Office for National Statistics showed retail sales unexpectedly fell in May as restaurants reopened and people shifted some of their spending from food stores, although they remained above pre-pandemic levels.
Retail sales declined by 1.4% on the month, versus expectations for a 1.5% increase. Sales at food stores saw the biggest drop, with volumes down 5.7% as the hospitality industry reopened after Covid restrictions eased and people returned to eating and drinking in pubs and restaurants.
Meanwhile, clothing and department stores reported monthly declines of 2.5% and 6.7%, respectively, while sales at non-store retailers fell 4.2% as non-essential retail reopened.
Despite the overall monthly fall, the ONS said that over April and May combined, retail sales were still 7.7% higher than in March 2021, and 9.1% above where they were in February 2020, before the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
Paul Dales, chief UK economist at Capital Economics, said: "Rather than suggest the economic recovery is already spluttering, the decline in retail sales in May is probably just a result of the reopening of indoor hospitality in mid-May prompting households to spend less time shopping and more time socialising."
In equity markets, safety equipment specialist Halma was the standout gainer on the FTSE 100, having slumped on Thursday after Berenberg said the stock's valuation "remains a hurdle".
Precious metals miners Fresnillo and Polymetal shone as gold prices rose.
Car dealership Inchcape surged as it said full-year pre-tax profit was set to be "significantly ahead" of market consensus of £216m after a better-than-expected performance in the first half.
Rotork was boosted by an upgrade to 'overweight' at Morgan Stanley, while easyJet and Wizz Air flew higher after upgrades to 'buy' and 'hold' respectively at HSBC.
On the downside, supermarket group Tesco was weaker even as it reported a small rise in first-quarter like-for-like sales, reflecting the lifting of Covid restrictions as more people started to eat out again.
Market Movers
FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,150.26 -0.04%
FTSE 250 (MCX) 22,608.58 0.33%
techMARK (TASX) 4,504.42 0.12%
FTSE 100 - Risers
Halma (HLMA) 2,772.00p 1.84%
Fresnillo (FRES) 819.80p 1.81%
Renishaw (RSW) 5,420.00p 1.69%
Polymetal International (POLY) 1,618.50p 1.35%
Scottish Mortgage Inv Trust (SMT) 1,254.00p 1.13%
Berkeley Group Holdings (The) (BKG) 4,656.00p 0.95%
Intertek Group (ITRK) 5,590.00p 0.90%
Associated British Foods (ABF) 2,377.00p 0.81%
Spirax-Sarco Engineering (SPX) 13,380.00p 0.79%
Bunzl (BNZL) 2,357.00p 0.77%
FTSE 100 - Fallers
BT Group (BT.A) 202.10p -1.70%
Tesco (TSCO) 227.45p -1.60%
Intermediate Capital Group (ICP) 2,158.00p -1.60%
Barclays (BARC) 176.16p -1.49%
Johnson Matthey (JMAT) 3,106.00p -1.02%
Royal Mail (RMG) 586.40p -0.91%
Phoenix Group Holdings (PHNX) 714.00p -0.86%
3i Group (III) 1,210.00p -0.78%
Standard Chartered (STAN) 482.00p -0.70%
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK) 2,431.00p -0.69%
FTSE 250 - Risers
Inchcape (INCH) 809.00p 6.10%
Rotork (ROR) 347.80p 3.08%
Fidelity China Special Situations (FCSS) 408.50p 2.38%
Network International Holdings (NETW) 399.00p 2.31%
IntegraFin Holding (IHP) 551.50p 2.22%
Centamin (DI) (CEY) 108.35p 2.22%
JPMorgan European Discovery Trust (JEDT) 497.00p 2.05%
Impax Environmental Markets (IEM) 458.00p 1.78%
Baillie Gifford US Growth Trust (USA) 325.00p 1.72%
Wizz Air Holdings (WIZZ) 4,916.00p 1.63%
FTSE 250 - Fallers
FDM Group (Holdings) (FDM) 970.00p -2.32%
Dr. Martens (DOCS) 430.00p -1.87%
Tritax Big Box Reit (BBOX) 197.70p -1.35%
Diversified Energy Company (DEC) 105.20p -1.31%
PureTech Health (PRTC) 348.50p -1.27%
Tullow Oil (TLW) 60.92p -1.23%
Helios Towers (HTWS) 168.00p -1.18%
Morrison (Wm) Supermarkets (MRW) 179.65p -1.13%
Hochschild Mining (HOC) 162.80p -1.09%
Telecom Plus (TEP) 1,206.00p -0.99%