Retail stocks boost FTSE gains despite negative industry data

UK retail stocks helped the FTSE make some headway on Friday despite a disappointing set of industry-wide economic data.

T.The Office for National Statistics (ONS) announced that December retail sales fell by 1% for the second month in a row.

Nevertheless, investors have taken the opportunity to buy shares of Asos, JD Sports, Boohoo and others that have fallen in the previous session.

The FTSE 100 ended the day at 7,770.59, up 23.3 points (0.3%).

Other parts of Europe also saw gains, with most other major markets outperforming London and falling sharply early in the week.

At the end of the session, Dax was up 0.76% and French Cac was up 0.63%.

Michael Hewson, Chief Market Analyst at CMC Markets UK, said:

“The FTSE 100 lags behind its European peers today as mass-produced components such as Shell, Unilever and AstraZeneca were weak this week.”

A rebounding US tech sector helped offset the impact of another negative monthly housing report.

Chris Beeshamp, Chief Market Analyst at IG said: within Google. ”

Meanwhile, the pound softened slightly following surprisingly weak retail sales data, especially a strong update from UK-traded retailers over the crucial Christmas period.

The pound fell 0.13% to 1.237 against the dollar and 1.15% against the euro to 1.141.

In company news, SSE posted a profit after the group raised its financial forecasts for the final nine months of 2022 due to increased electricity production despite the global gas crisis.

SSE, which no longer supplies energy directly to homes, said output from its gas-fired power plants had increased by 27% from the previous year. As a result, the share price rose 48.5 pence to 1,750.5 pence.

Restaurant Group held a positive session as investors welcomed the news that activist hedge fund Oasis had acquired a 5% stake from the owners of Wagamama.

At the end of the game, the stock price rose 2.3p to 37.3p.

High-street stationery chain The Works reported that online commerce over the Christmas period was “disappointing” and fell after reporting increased losses in the past six months. The company’s share price fell nine pence to his 34.2 pence.

Crude oil prices rallied at the close after rising for a second straight week on heightened optimism for China.

Brent crude rose 0.75% to close at $86.81 (£70.17) in London.

FTSE 100 3i Group up 47p to 1,462.5p, Frasers Group up 765p to 21.5p, SSE up 48.5p to 1,750.5p, JD Sport up 4.25p to 157p, Air France 115.4p Pence has risen. Up to 1,750.5p.

The session’s top winners were Hargreaves Lansdown, down 23.2p from 864.2p, Pearson, down 20.4p from 921.8p, AstraZeneca, down 11,200p from 220p, and Melrose Industries, down 2.55p, down 1,494.2 points. at 811p.