London open: Stocks fall after retail sales, consumer confidence data

(Sharecast News) - London stocks fell in early trade on Friday as investors mulled disappointing retail sales data and an uninspiring consumer confidence survey. At 0835 GMT, the FTSE 100 was down 0.3% at 7,403.60.

Figures out earlier from the Office for National Statistics showed that retail sales unexpectedly fell last month.

Sales declined by 0.4% in November following a 0.9% increase in October, missing expectations for a 0.3% jump. Sales in October had bounced back from the impact of the additional Bank Holiday in September for the Queen's funeral.

Excluding fuel, retail sales were down 0.3% on the month in November.

ONS director of economic statistics Darren Morgan said that sales during Black Friday had failed "to provide their usual lift in this sector".

"However, department stores and households good shops did report increased sales, with these retailers telling us a longer period of Black Friday discounting helped boost sales," he said.

"Food and alcohol sales were also up, with consumers stocking up early to try to spread the cost of Christmas festivities."

The figures showed that online sales fell 2.8% in November, continuing a downward trend seen since early 2021, as the wider economy reopened and people were able to shop in stores again. Still, they are 18.2% higher than their pre-Covid February 2020 levels.

Separately, a survey showed that consumer confidence remains at historic lows as the poor economic climate continues to weigh heavily

The latest GfK consumer confidence index was -42, up two points on November but still only seven points off September's record low of -49.

Joe Staton, client strategy director at GfK, said: "December marks the eighth month in a row in which the index has bumped along at -40 or worse, the first time this has happened since our records began nearly 50 years ago."

Within the overall score, the index for expectations for personal finances was unchanged on November, at -29, while the gauge for the outlook for the economy over the next 12 months pushed five points higher to -53.

The major purchases index also strengthened slightly, by four points to -34.

However, Staton argued: "Despite the latest GDP figures showing slight growth in October, the warning is of a tough road ahead and that the UK is not out of the recessionary woods.

"Real wages are falling as inflation continues to bite hard, further straining the discretionary budget of many households as we enter the last few shopping days before Christmas. The outlook for our personal financial situation over the next 12 months - perhaps the key metric as we enter the new year - is stuck at -29."

In equity markets, miniature wargames manufacturer Games Workshop surged after saying it had reached an agreement in principle with Amazon Content Services for Amazon to develop its intellectual property into film and television productions.

In a brief statement, Games Workshop said its intended that rights will initially be granted to develop the Warhammer 40,000 universe. The agreement will also see the company grant Amazon associated merchandising rights.

Building materials company CRH ticked higher after saying it has established a new venture capital unit that "will support the development of new technologies and innovative solutions to meet the increasingly complex needs of customers and evolving trends in construction".

Elsewhere, BT Group was in focus as it said it was combining its global and enterprise units into a single unit to be called BT Business, in a move designed to save £100m a year to the end of 2025.

RS Group - formerly Electrocomponents - fell after it announced that Lindsley Ruth was stepping down as chief executive with immediate effect for personal reasons.

In broker note action, National Express was under the cosh after a downgrade to 'hold' at Liberum, while Wood Group and Bunzl were knocked lower by downgrades at Barclays.

Bodycote fell after a downgrade to 'hold' at Numis, but Helios Towers gained ground after an initiation at 'overweight' by Morgan Stanley.

Market Movers

FTSE 100 (UKX) 7,403.60 -0.30% FTSE 250 (MCX) 18,825.06 -0.36% techMARK (TASX) 4,371.33 -0.57%

FTSE 100 - Risers

CRH (CDI) (CRH) 3,207.00p 0.94% Standard Chartered (STAN) 609.80p 0.86% Harbour Energy (HBR) 314.40p 0.58% NATWEST GROUP (NWG) 259.80p 0.50% Airtel Africa (AAF) 111.50p 0.45% HSBC Holdings (HSBA) 494.40p 0.36% Smurfit Kappa Group (CDI) (SKG) 3,044.00p 0.26% Lloyds Banking Group (LLOY) 45.57p 0.22% M&G (MNG) 185.25p 0.22% BT Group (BT.A) 114.60p 0.17%

FTSE 100 - Fallers

Bunzl (BNZL) 2,874.00p -2.28% Halma (HLMA) 2,104.00p -1.68% Spirax-Sarco Engineering (SPX) 10,990.00p -1.61% RS Group (RS1) 915.50p -1.51% Croda International (CRDA) 6,784.00p -1.45% Rentokil Initial (RTO) 525.20p -1.39% Rightmove (RMV) 536.60p -1.29% Convatec Group (CTEC) 226.80p -1.22% Fresnillo (FRES) 842.80p -1.22% Severn Trent (SVT) 2,717.00p -1.20%

FTSE 250 - Risers

Games Workshop Group (GAW) 8,335.00p 14.18% HGCapital Trust (HGT) 362.00p 2.26% CMC Markets (CMCX) 231.50p 1.54% Capricorn Energy (CNE) 252.00p 1.45% Paragon Banking Group (PAG) 548.00p 1.39% Helios Towers (HTWS) 102.00p 1.09% Supermarket Income Reit (SUPR) 104.50p 0.97% Investec (INVP) 479.90p 0.71% Fidelity China Special Situations (FCSS) 242.50p 0.62% Octopus Renewables Infrastructure Trust (ORIT) 100.60p 0.60%

FTSE 250 - Fallers

Currys (CURY) 59.20p -3.82% Wood Group (John) (WG.) 126.70p -3.43% PureTech Health (PRTC) 275.50p -3.33% ITV (ITV) 72.20p -3.06% Bodycote (BOY) 572.00p -3.05% National Express Group (NEX) 139.80p -2.78% CLS Holdings (CLI) 149.20p -2.74% Diploma (DPLM) 2,772.00p -2.26% Darktrace (DARK) 277.40p -1.98% Kainos Group (KNOS) 1,606.00p -1.95%